98 Days
by Koroda
Summary: Arthur leaves his home in England to visit none other than Paris, France for the summer. What he believes to be a boring vacation at first turns out to be the best time of his life, with long, strong friendships that he has never experienced before. Rated T for no apparent reason, but all I know is that I'm bad at rating, so it might be K or something.
1. June 18

**Author's Note: Greetings, everyone! Is I, Koroda, and I present my first chapter of my first Fancfiction. I hope you all like it, and I would like to know if I did anything wrong, so I can correct it next chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia, (I sure wish I did) but I did make up this hotel and the road it is on.**

**_June 18_**

Arthur looked back as the airplane took off. His country, his home, England, was now behind him. He was on a vacation to France for the summer. Of course, the Brit never liked the country, but he felt that he should at least give it a chance.

By now, England was so small, Arthur could fit it between his thumb and pointer finger. He sighed. Perhaps he should have stayed in the UK for the summer. Apparently, the promised hotel was a new model. Instead of the normal layout, the rooms were all centered around a moderately sized courtyard. The entire thing was closed in, save a door to get to the next courtyard. Arthur was quite interested in this technique, which is probably why he even went.

After a good amount of time, Arthur's plane arrived in Paris. There were cars racing along the streets, people strolling along, and a small, clean little airport for Arthur's plane to land at. Slowly and gradually the plane lowered onto the runway, until it came to a complete stop.

Arthur, among the others, stepped off the plane and into the minute airport. He took a liking to it, with it's cozy atmosphere and small crowd of people. Unfortunately, he couldn't stay around if he were to get to his hotel on time.

He hurried out, to the street and waved over a taxi. It took a rather long time, but he was finally able to attract one of the bright yellow vehicles.

"Where to?" The taxi driver questioned.

"24 La Siene Road. The new hotel," Arthur replied, sitting in the back seat. He looked out the window at the water. It was a shining, glimmering blue. But, it was so... Deep. Arthur had a great fear of the water, and he hoped that would not have to visit the beach this summer.

The taxi driver stopped at the large complex of courtyards. Arthur payed his fee and stepped out with his luggage. He waved the taxi driver away and turned to look at the hotel. Taking a deep breath, he walked up the pretty little path made up of stones, decorated with exotic trees and fountains. He opened the glass door to see a small lobby with apricot walls and a white carpet. Yet another fountain was in here, but smaller than the outside ones.

"Welcome to the Lascaux Hotel, how may I help you sir?" A rather large man with light blonde hair said, with a monotone voice at the desk. "You can call me Germania."

Arthur stepped forward. "Hello, uh, Germania. I am Arthur Kirkland. And reserved from June 18 to September 21."

Germania nodded, "Kirkland... Oh yes, you are in plaza 3, room 11. Here is your key. Go into the hall and take a right until you get to the door labeled 3. This is a map of our hotel. There is a pool, gym and park in the large center courtyard and if you head farther down the lobby, you will reach the restaurant and bar. We serve breakfast until 10, lunch until 4 and dinner until 12. The bar is open until 3."

Arthur nodded, looking at the map. The hotel was large, definitely. He opened the door to he outer hallway and took a right. Finally, he came across a glass door with a bronze 3 hammered onto it. Arthur opened it slowly, surprised how light it was. Beyond the door was a beautiful courtyard with a healthy green lawn, a campfire with seat, 3 grills and a pond. He took a liking to it right away, and went to find room 11.

Finally, Arthur spotted a door on the far end labeled 11. He put his key in and slid it open. Placing his luggage down, he turned on the lights, revealing a nicely furnished living room, connected to a kitchen with a table, counter, oven and refrigerator. The door led to a bedroom with a large, king-sized bed, a large closet and a door to the bathroom, which contained a shower, toilet and sink.

"This is actually quite nice..." Arthur muttered, and unzipped his suitcase. Slowly, he began to put his clothes in the drawer by his bed. After that was done, he unpacked his pillows and blankets.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. Arthur hurried over and opened the door to see a small man with milky brown hair, with a single curl, olive skin and a happy grin on his face.

"Buon giorno!" The man greeted, his brown eyes in extreme excitement. "I'm Feliciano, and I'm in room 3 of this plaza! You must be the newcomer! I want to know everyone that is in this courtyard so we can be best friends! We're hosting a courtyard barbecue on the 21st, since it's the first day of summer! "

Arthur smiled slowly. At least his neighbor was kind and inviting. "Hello, Feliciano. I'm Arthur. And yes, I just got here today. I believe I can make it to the barbecue."

"Hey Arthur!" Feliciano grinned. "Come with me to see the rest of the people in our plaza! They're all really nice."

"Okay," Arthur quickly replied. He slipped on some shoes and followed Feliciano to room 1.

"So, the people here are named Elizaveta and Roderich. They're really nice, especially Elizaveta. She's tough, but really sweet! And Roderich, he's pretty quiet, and nice sometimes, but he somehow brought his piano. We should ask him how he got it through the door!" Feliciano suggested, and knocked.

Arthur nodded, not fully believing Feliciano's piano claim. Elizaveta opened the door, and rubbed Feliciano's head. "Why hello, Feliciano! It's nice to see you again! And who is this?" She asked, looking at Arthur.

"This is Arthur! He's just arrived here today!" Feliciano exclaimed.

Arthur stuck out a hand to the brunette. "Nice to meet you, Elizaveta."

"Same," she replied, shaking his hand, smiling. "Roderich and I arrived here yesterday. Roderich is at the grocery store right now."

Quickly, Feliciano inquired, "Hey, how did you and Roderich get the piano in here?"

Elizaveta laughed, "Oh! We had to take it apart and put it back together. Roderich figured that if we are staying until September, we might as well bring it."

Feliciano nodded, and waved, "Well, Arthur and I are going to see Francis now, so see you!"

"Alright, Feli! And it's nice to meet you, Arthur!" Elizaveta waved and closed the door.

Feliciano hurried over the room 2, and quickly knocked on the door. "This is where Francis lives! He just got here, earlier today."

Francis slowly opened the door, holding a large crimson rose between his teeth, and a croissant in his hands.

"Hey Feliciano," he muttered, trying to find a way to get the rose onto the plate.

"Francis!" Feliciano sang, "This is Arthur! He just got here, and I'm forcing him to meet everybody. Why do you have a rose and croissant?"

Francis laughed, finally getting the rose onto the plate, "I was making some food for myself and Yao. I have invited him to have dinner with me tonight, since we both are, of course, culinary geniuses. I decided to decorate these dishes with roses. French food is so delicious, it must be dressed up properly."

Arthur raised a brow, "If you are French, then what brings you to a hotel?"

"I don't live in this area of France, you see. Also, I was invited to this vacation by Gilbert and Antonio," Francis replied.

"That actually smells quite good," Arthur sniffed, giving a small, but clearly fake smile.

Francis smirked, "Well, shouldn't you be used to that? Why, English food is so... *cough* delicious *cough*."

"Take that back frog!" Arthur growled, raising a fist to Francis, who was laughing hysterically. "Don't insult the United Kingdom like that!"

Before Francis could reply, Feliciano pushed the two away from each other and yelled, "Please don't fight! We're all friends here, see?"

Arthur lowered his fist and nodded, "Feliciano has a point... Things got out of control, and I'm obviously the more mature and controlled one of us."

Francis rolled his eyes and closed the door quickly, and without a word.

"So, who is in the next room?" Arthur asked Feliciano.

"Oh, that's where I stay, with my friends Ludwig, his brother Gilbert, and Kiku. Oh, and did I mention that my grandpa works here? He's the cook! That's why we picked this place to spend the summer," Feliciano grinned, and opened the door.

"Hey everybody, this is Arthur! He just got here today!" He yelled inside.

"Konichiwa, Arthur," a small man with short black hair greeted.

Arthur smiled, "Nice to meet you. Are you Kiku?"

Kiku nodded, soon to be pushed away by an extremely pale, white-haired, red-eyed, larger man.

"It is I, ze awesome Gilbert! You 'd better get used to ze awesome me, because I am ze most awesome person you will ever meet! I just had to clear that up for you, Arthur." The man nearly screamed in Arthur's face, then shook his hand roughly.

Arthur was left too shocked to respond, frozen still. Another larger man walked up behind Gilbert and scolded him for being too loud. "Well, everyone needs to know who I am! Ludwig, don't take zese things so seriously!"

"Anyway, Arthur, I apologize for my annoying brother. I'm Ludwig. Gilbert and I come from Germany," he greeted with a stern face, and shook Arthur's hand.

Arthur tried to smile, but Feliciano quickly dragged him away to the next room.

"This is where Antonio and my brother, Lovino are staying! They got here the same day I did," Feliciano exclaimed, and knocked on the door, quickly.

A happy man opened the door and hugged Feliciano, "Oh, Feli how are you? I've been needing some cheering up! And who is this?"

Arthur smiled, "I'm Arthur, and-"

"What is going on Antonio?" Lovino growled, coming behind the taller man. "And hello, Feli. Hey- stop squeezing him!" He pulled Antonio away from Feliciano, whose face was beginning to turn blue. "Now go away! I'm in the middle of a good show!"

The door closed in front of Arthur and Feliciano. "He seems like the polar opposite of you..." Arthur observed.

"Yeah, Lovino is like that. Let's go see Vash and Lili!" Feliciano grinned, dragging Arthur next door and knocked.

"Hi Vash!" Feliciano grinned.

"Hello Feliciano. And who are you?" Vash asked, pointing to Arthur.

"This is Arthur! He just got here today," Feliciano replied.

"Oh, hello. I'm Vash. I'm not so sure how I ended up coming here. It was very expensive. But, my sister really wanted to..." Vash explained, shaking hands with Arthur.

"Is there someone new? Vash, who is it?" A little girl, who Arthur figured was Lili, stood behind Vash, peeling around him to see.

Vash sighed, and muttered, "Yes, his name is Arthur." He stepped back to let Lili by.

"Hello!" She grinned, "I'm Lili! My brother Vash and I come from Switzerland!"

Arthur smiled. He always had enjoyed the company of younger children. "Why hello there, Lili. I'm Arthur, and I come from England."

Lili smiled and stepped back to let Vash continue what he was doing.

"Well, I have to finish figuring out the grocery list," He sighed, waved, and closed the door.

Feliciano giggled, "Lili says that Vash takes his time with grocery lists, and can't decide on butter brands! Anyway, we'll go see the people next door."

Feliciano knocked quickly to see a man with wavy blonde hair, blue eyes and a single hair curl. Soon enough, he was trampled over by a man who looked just like him, with brighter eyes and a sort of cowlick instead of a curl.

"Hey Feli dude!" the man grinned. He seemed hyperactive to Arthur.

"M-maple..." a small voice came from the ground.

"Hmm? Oh sorry bro," the man apologized to his roommate flat on the floor and backed up to let him stand up.

"This is Alfred, and his brother Matthew. Alfred was raised in the United States, and Matthew in Canada," Feliciano explained, and Matthew finally stood up. "Hey you two, this is Arthur. He just got here today."

Alfred smiled and grinned, "Hey, Artie, Matt and I have been watching the Stanley Cup Championships every night. You should come join us to see a game!"

Well, he certainly is casual... "What sport is that for?" He asked, trying to recall what he knew about sports.

"Well, hockey, duh," Alfred laughed. "You know, that sport where a bunch of dudes skate around on ice like total honey badgers with skates and try to get a puck into a net?"

"I'll translate," Matthew volunteered. "Hockey is a team sport played on ice in which people use sticks to try to get a little black cylinder referred to as a puck inside a net, which is guarded by a goalie."

Arthur nodded, "I might see a game, but it doesn't seem like my type of sport."

Alfred's face fell, "Oh yeah, Brits only really like soccer, and cricket, which is like a ripoff of baseball..."

Arthur tried to keep from correcting the man, but had to ask, "By soccer you mean football, right?"

Alfred's face lit up, "Oh my gosh, you like football! Matthew do you hear this? This guy likes football!"

"Alfred, that's the British term for soccer!" Matthew cried. "You're going to scare him away. Come on, let's go. Sorry guys, you 'll have to come see us later." And quickly, he closed the door.

"Arthur, are you okay?" Feliciano asked.

"I'm fine. Just a little bit... I don't know," Arthur replied clutching his chest. "That was worse than Gilbert's introduction."

"I bet you'll be okay then. Let's go see Heracles, Sadik and Michelle!" Feliciano encouraged and hurried next door.

"Hello?" A man with milky brown hair asked slowly, openings he door. "Oh, it's you... Feliciano."

"Heracles, this is Arthur, he's new," Feliciano grinned.

"Oh, hello Arthur," Heracles yawned, and passed out onto the floor.

"Ugh! Why did I ever agree to share a room with you two?" A girl's voice growled. A small, dark-skinned female hurried over and pushed Heracles into bed.

"Hello, newcomer. I'm Michelle. I decided to move in with these guys so that the people next door could fit in our plaza. What a bad idea," the girl smiled, leaning on the entrance way. "They payed for the room I gave them, so I basically get to stay for free! I wonder if it's worth it... So far, France is nice. I don't know if I still like my home, the Seychelles, better."

Arthur waved, "I'm Arthur. It's nice to meet you."

"Hey Arthur. If you two are looking for Sadik, he's out with Roderich, grocery shopping I think," Michelle replied.

Feliciano nodded, and waved a goodbye as the two headed next door to meet the next group of people. Apparently, they were only there because Michelle moved in with Sadik and Heracles.

The girl who opened the door smiled, "Hello Feliciano. And, you must be new! I'm Katyusha. Oh, and this is my sister, Natalia."

"Hi," muttered the smaller girl beside her.

"This is Arthur! He just came here today!" Feliciano grinned.

Katyusha smiled, and exchanged a handshake with Arthur. "Oh no! Natalia, the microwave! Sorry, we have to go! See you two later!" The two girls then rushed to the kitchen to fix their difficulty.

"Next door is Ivan and Yao's place," Feliciano explained and knocked on the door.

Slowly, the door opened, revealing a large pale white face peering out. Arthur jumped back, but held back a scream. Behind the larger man was a shorter girl with long brown hair.

"This is Ivan," Feliciano gestured towards the larger man. "He's from Russia. And the one next to him is Yao, and he's from China."

"Wait, Yao is a man?" Arthur thought, confusedly. "Uh, hello, Yao and Ivan."

"Nice to meet you, da," Ivan nodded, still with that creepy look on his face.

"Yes, you seem like a good person, aru. I look forward to learning more about you this summer!" Yao cheerfully exclaimed, putting a hand on Arthur's shoulder.

Arthur smiled, and with a goodbye, him and Feliciano headed next door. "Next is where Emil, Lukas and Mathias stay. Be prepared for Mathias to be like Gilbert and Alfred, Arthur. I don't want you to have a heart attack on your first day here!" He explained, knocking on the door.

Slowly, the door opened, revealing a relatively small man with very pale skin, light blonde hair and dark blue eyes. His face kept kept a bored expression and he murmured, "God dag. I'm Lukas. You must be the new person that Alfred called to tell Mathias about."

"Lukas is that him?" A loud voice yelled from behind.

"Yes. Mathias, go get little brother please," Lukas groaned, and turned to face Arthur again.

"This is Arthur. He just got here today!" Feliciano said, with a smile on his face.

Another man came up to Lukas, with eyes a violet shade and even lighter hair than Lukas. "Hey. I'm Emil. I'm Lukas' younger brother. I'm pleased to meet you... Arthur."

Arthur shook hands with the brothers, just before the tallest man in the group barged in with a grin on his face. He was clearly Mathias.

"Hello and welcome to this hotel! What's it called again?" Mathias asked, looking at Feliciano.

Feliciano thought for a moment, before laughing, "Oh, it's called the Lascaux Hotel!"

Mathias nodded, "Yeah, welcome to the Lasc- whatever he said."

Arthur smiled, and looked at his watch. The time was 7:30pm. "Well, I'd better go to my room soon. Are there any other people here?"

Feliciano nodded, "There's one more, but it's empty. Germania says that the people that will be there are coming in three days, on June 21st. Well, since you want to go to your room, I'll leave you alone now! See you tomorrow!"

Arthur smiled quickly and hurried over to his room, the next one over, as Mathias closed his door. He thrust the key inside and opened it slowly. Walking inside, Arthur took off his army green jacket and hung it on the coat rack.

Just as he went to close the curtains, Arthur noticed Yao running across the courtyard to room 2, most likely to go see Francis. He was carrying a large container, which held noodles and some other Chinese food that Arthur could not identify. He then strode to the small armchair and flicked on the television. A French romance soon appeared on the screen, and Arthur quickly switched it to something worth watching, which to him, was BBC.

Soon, after an hour of watching TV, Arthur began to grow weary. After changing into some pajamas, he climbed into bed and fell asleep within a matter of minutes.

**So, everyone! This is it. Please review, and I can say that there is a pretty good chance that I will consider your criticisms for the next chapter. I will mostly likely upload every few days, so please stay tuned!**


	2. June 19

**I'm so sorry for taking so long! I planned to upload this yesterday, but I failed! Well, I think I've decided on who the characters arriving in the next few chapters are. So, I hope you like this short little chapter I wrote for all of you!**

**_June 19_**

Arthur awoke that morning feeling sluggish and tired. Slowly, he turned his head to look at the clock, which read 6:45am. "Bollocks, why did I wake up so early?" He yawned, turning over in bed. The sunlight was just barely creeping through the curtains, but it would certainly keep him awake. Arthur tiredly sat up and rubbed his eyes, and slid on his slippers.

The slippers were little green hares, and they were his since he was a child. Arthur sighed. He remembered being presented with the slippers when he was just a little boy. Back then, they were huge, but now, they fit just right.

Arthur stood up and ambled towards the kitchen, and looked in his little food container. "I have got to go to the grocery store some time today," he sighed, and started to prepare a cup of tea. He placed the tea bag in the hot water and waited.

As soon as the tea was ready, Arthur lifted it up and took a quick sip. "And everyone says English food is awful," he chuckled lightly. "If you haven't had a cup of tea, you haven't lived."

By now, it was about 7:00, so Arthur decided to get dressed and go outside. Perhaps he could find the restaurant. He recalled Germania saying that they served breakfast until 10:00, so he might as well go see.

Slowly, Arthur opened his door, wearing a pale green sweater vest with a white shirt and jeans. Quickly, he crossed the courtyard into the main hallway and took a left. The next door read, "Buon giorno! Chef Rome's Café."

I suppose this is the place, Arthur figured and opened the door. "Hello, is this the restaurant?"

"Of course it is, don't be silly!" Came a voice. Hurrying in from the kitchen was a tall, olive-skinned man. He appeared to be the older version of Feliciano. "You can call me Chef Rome, for I come from Italy. I believe you have met my grandsons, no?"

Arthur nodded, "Yes, Feliciano and Lovino, right?"

"Yes, that's them! They wanted to come visit my for the summer, and they took their friends along with them. And what are you doing up so early? This is a vacation! Relax," Chef Rome laughed, flipping pancakes.

"I woke up early, and I'm not so sure why," Arthur sighed, and added, "I couldn't fall back asleep, so I might as well have breakfast."

Chef Rome laughed, "Oh, no worries. The others will wake up soon anyway. It's about... 7:15 anyway."

He set the pancakes on a plate, and slid it over to Arthur. "Here, I have some extra pancakes. One of the people staying here today asked me to make some for him this morning." Chef Rome hurried into the kitchen to get some more ingredients.

Arthur took out a fork and knife and began to cut the pancakes, eating slowly. He was finished a while later, just as Matthew walked in. Arthur remembered him from yesterday. He was the Canadian man.

"Hello, Chef Rome. Did you have my pancakes?" Matthew whispered, sitting at the counter, next to Arthur.

Without a word, Chef Rome tossed the plate of pancakes with, amazing technique, so that they landed directly in front of Matthew. He then placed the bottle of maple syrup next to him. "I had it all ready, Matthew!" He smiled, and got back to work.

Matthew sniffed in the luxurious smell, "Thank you!" He took a fork and knife and started to eat.

A few hours later, Arthur was at the grocery store, checking out the items he had in his carriage.

"Hello, Arthur," a voice called behind him. Arthur turned around to see Vash and Lili pulling into line behind him.

"Big Bruder," Lili piped, looking at he contents of the carriage. "Just because you couldn't decide on butter doesn't mean we can't get any, does it?"

Vash sighed, "I already told you, I don't want to regret what choice I make, so I won't make one at all."

"I could go pick one for you. I'll get the one you like," Lili volunteered. "I won't be long. Please, we need butter, Big Bruder."

Growling, Vash nodded, and Lili raced down the aisles to find the dairy section. "Sometimes, I think that I can't make any choices," Vash said to Arthur, after Lili left.

"Sir, it's your turn," the cashier interrupted, tapping Arthur on the shoulder.

Arthur turned around, quickly, and apologized. He began to set up his things on the counter. He quickly paid for his groceries and turned to face Vash. Lili had returned with the butter. Vash looked at it and sighed, placing it on the counter. As soon as they were done, Arthur asked Lili, "So, what butter did you choose?"

"I picked the kind of butter Vash likes. He thinks it's too cheap. Actually, I don't know why he hesitates about it. I myself don't mind what kind of butter we get, as long as we get some," Lili replied, softly, so that Vash couldn't hear.

"Ah, I see," Arthur laughed, "Well, I suppose we should hurry on back to the hotel."

Lili nodded, as Vash waved over a taxi.

Soon, Vash, Lili and Arthur arrived at the hotel. Arthur walked into his room, unlocked the door and set down his groceries.

Stocking his refrigerator, Arthur hummed a short song, only to be interrupted by a banging on his door. He hurried over and opened it, revealing Alfred.

"Hello Alfred, what do you need?" Arthur questioned, leaning on the doorway.

Alfred grinned, "Kiku and I are hosting a Pokémon tournament tomorrow! And then, we're all going to watch the hockey game!"

"I'm sorry Alfred, but I don't know what Pokémon is..." Arthur replied. "But I could join you for a hockey game," he added.

Laughing Alfred replied, "Pokémon is a video game where you make these creatures battle until one is too tired to fight. I'll supply the games, I have a ton! And you can have whatever Pokémon you want!" He waved a cartridge labeled Action Replay in front of Arthur.

"I'll probably be able to make it," He concluded, getting ready to close the door.

Alfred ran off, "Alright Artie! See you tomorrow!"

**So, that's it! I hope you enjoyed little mister Chapter 2 here! Well, next chapter is coming soon! And yes, it does involve Pokémon for some reason and hockey as well, because of course, Alfred likes to do things with friends! Well, see you!**


	3. June 20

**Well, here is next chapter! Two chapters in one day! How fun! Well, here it is. Well, we now have Pokémon and hockey for Arthur today! Hurray... I think.**

**_June 20_**

Arthur awakened that morning to see that the time was precisely 9:00. He had stayed up late the previous night, reading an entrancing novel, which he was unable to put down. The ending wasn't all that satisfying, but it was a good read nonetheless.

The Brit sat up in his bed, and walked over to the bathroom to brush his teeth. After that was taken care of, he took it upon himself to make breakfast. Arthur placed two pieces of bread in the toaster and made some tea. As he was drinking, something smelled like it was burning. Smoke was rising from the toaster!

"Bollocks!" Arthur growled, taking the bread out of the toaster. It was coal black and steaming evilly. "Why is this toaster so bloody awful?"

"Don't blame the toaster. It was all you, Monsieur."

Arthur turned around to see Francis behind him, crossing his arms, glaring at the burnt toast.

"How did you get in here, bloody frog?!" Arthur cried jumping back, nearly dropping his toast.

Francis smiled, "That, ma cherie, is a secret I intend to keep." He stared at the food, and commented, "I dare you to eat that."

Arthur looked down at his meal. It was badly burnt, but he wouldn't confess that to the Frenchman. "I will then, Grenoille."

Francis nodded, not exactly taking offense, and smirked, "Go ahead then. I have to see this. No the world!" He took out a mobile phone and turned the camera on. "Go on, eat it. Or do even you agree that this is disgusting?"

Fury building up inside him, Arthur took a slice of toast and put it to his lips. Francis' camera flashed once. Twice. He opened his mouth, slowly, brought it into his mouth... And clamped it shut. The foul taste flooded his mouth, and he tried to keep it from going to his face. However, he couldn't help it. He scrunched up his nose, and furrowed his brow. An eruption of hysterical laughter came from Francis, who was still taking pictures.

"That is not funny frog!" Arthur screamed, trying to grab the phone from his opponent's larger, stronger hands.

Francis lifted the phone high above Arthur's head, "Haha, you'll never get this phone, Black Sheep of Europe!"

Arthur lowered his hand and looked downward. Even someone he didn't know well says that he doesn't fit in. It was true, wasn't it?

"Fine then!" He cried, turning away. "Show your useless, rude friends those pictures! S-see if I care!" Arthur stormed over to the couch and plopped down, his face in his hands.

Francis lowered the phone and watched Arthur. "Now, aren't you being a bit over sensitive? I'll never understand Angleterre."

"You don't understand, Frog!" Arthur growled. "Everyone says that! It's getting on my nerves!"

Francis' heart fell. "Not to your nerves," he commented, "but to your heart. Believe it or not, I was called names too. Everyone said I was perverted! I am not what they think I am, though! I proved them wrong, and I didn't believe them."

Arthur looked up, "I-I didn't know that happened to you."

Francis blushed slightly, "Yes, but that's not something I want to talk about right now. I'm going to help Alfred and Kiku set up for their tournament. See you."

And with that, he strode out the door, with a small smile on his face.

"OMG Artie!" Alfred groaned, trying to show Arthur the video game screen. "You press this to make it attack, this one to switch and this one to use items! How hard is that?"

Arthur stared at the screen. He was never fond of video games, but this one interested him. "Why can't my unicorn just fight? This is too complicated!"

Alfred sighed, "Come on! It's a game! It's interactive! It's supposed to be fun! And for the last time, it isn't a unicorn, it is a Rapidash! It's not complicated! Just go let Kiku show you."

Arthur turned around and walked over to Kiku. "Could you help me? I don't know how to make this unicorn fight."

"Arthur!" Alfred screamed. "IT'S A RAPIDASH! Get it right!"

Arthur rolled his eyes as Kiku held the game system and explained what each button meant and how to make the Pokémon fight. "So, this is the health bar. It shows how much longer your Pokémon will be able to fight," Kiku described, while making Arthur fight a practice battle with him.

"Alright," Arthur smiled, "I think I've got this." He took the game to the central table to find Francis, Gilbert and Antonio holding a quiet discussion. Arthur walked over and listened as well as he could.

"Did you give it him yet, Francis?" Antonio asked quietly, poking Francis.

"Yeah did ya?" Gilbert joined in, a grin on his face,

Francis shook his head, "No... I was afraid to. I thought he would be mad at me. I'll try to find a way to do it, don't worry."

Gilbert facepalmed, and Antonio sighed, "Oh come on! Stop procrastinating this dare!"

Arthur, confused by this conversation, was soon swept away by Alfred, who wished to begin his tournament. The first round consisted of:

-Alfred vs. Ivan -Winner: Alfred  
-Yao vs. Kiku - Winner: Kiku  
-Ludwig vs. Vash - Winner: Vash  
-Arthur vs. Feliciano  
-Antonio vs. Francis - Winner: Francis  
-Lovino vs. Mathias - Winner: Mathias  
-Gilbert vs. Natalia - Winner: Natalia  
-Elizaveta vs. Roderich - Winner: Elizaveta

Arthur sat down next to Feliciano and held the game system. "Isn't this fun?" Feliciano laughed, beginning the battle.

"I guess," Arthur shrugged. Truly, he didn't want to make this unicorn fight, but it was just a game, and he might as well make Alfred happy. It was a quite even match, and both Pokémon were on the verge of fainting. Arthur made a quick move and was able to defeat Feliciano, but only barely.

"Well, that was interesting, even if Ludwig and I didn't win!" the brunette grinned, handing the game system to Alfred. Gilbert was running away in shame of losing to a girl, while the winners gathered to the central table.

Soon, Alfred insisted that the second round begin.

-Alfred vs. Vash - Winner: Alfred  
-Kiku vs. Mathias - Winner: Kiku  
-Arthur vs. Natalia  
-Francis vs. Elizaveta - Winner: Francis

Arthur slowly sat down in front of Natalia. Without a word, they began to play. Natalia kept an angered expression focused on Arthur, causing him to feel uneasy. He accidentally made his unicorn do the incorrect move, causing Natalia to almost completely defeat him. However, with quick and smart moves, Arthur was able to regain himself, now having Natalia almost defeated. Natalia set up her most powerful move, and Arthur was sure he would lose. He put the game system down to realize that Natalia was looking at him.

"You dodged my attack," she growled, motioning for him to sit down.

Arthur nodded and seated himself again. Since it was his turn to go, he commanded his unicorn to do its most powerful attack to win the game.

"Guys, you're so slow!" Alfred groaned, "On with round 3! The semi finals!"

-Alfred vs. Kiku - Winner: Kiku  
-Arthur vs. Francis

"Hello, frog," Arthur sighed, sitting down next to the slightly older man. "I am actually looking forward to playing with you."

Francis looked up, a smile on his face. "Do you really mean that, mon amore?"

Arthur growled, "Quit calling me that! And yes, I am. I can't wait to destroy you for once."

Francis rolled his eyes and began to play the game. Arthur's unicorn was able to deal a lot of damage to Francis' Vulpix. However, Francis still stayed strong, obviously determined and returned the attacks he received.

"If I could, I would command my unicorn to kill you in real life," Arthur smirked, attacking Francis' Vulpix further.

Francis looked up and laughed, "Not if I get to do so first!" He counter-attacked, bringing both Pokémon to an extremely low health level.

Growling, Arthur attacked Francis one more time, winning the battle. "Ha! Yes you bloody git! I am the winner!" Francis stood up slowly, an evil smile on his pale face.

"Mon amore, I will find you," he whispered. "Honhonhonhonhonhonhonhon..."

Arthur turned red and hurried away, hoping not to deal with the idiot Frenchman anymore. "Artie!" Alfred grinned, hurrying over to him, dragging Kiku as well. "Time for the final! Honestly, you shouldn't have made it, but you got all the right pairings, I suppose. No one you went against knew how to play!"

Arthur and Kiku sat down in front of each other and began to play. "Nice to see you again, Arthur. May we have a good, fair game."

Arthur nodded, and the game began. His unicorn swiftly attacked Kiku's Weavil, but dealing little damage. Kiku counter-attacked, dealing a lethal amount of damage to Arthur. Arthur commanded his unicorn to use flamethrower, one of his personal favorites. The blaze blasted Kiku's Weavil, but the battle was far from over. Kiku commanded the Weavil to quickly strike the unicorn, but it dodged just in time. The unicorn counter attacked, leaving the Weavil at a relatively low health. However, Kiku thought for a moment and concluded with his strongest attack on Arthur's unicorn, causing to it faint easily.

Arthur smiled slowly, "Well, I know I can't beat you at your country's own game."

"I think you did very well for your first time. Your Rapidash was strong," Kiku praised, taking Arthur's game system and returning it to Alfred.

"Dudes! Today isn't over yet!" Alfred announced, dragging Matthew over to him, the center of attention. Matthew nodded slowly, and pushed his glasses further up the bridge of his nose. "Matthew and I invite you to watch hockey with us! It's going to be so awesome, with popcorn and ice cream and I think Kiku gave me some mochis if anyone wants some."

"Yes, I did, Alfred," Kiku pointed out, and nodded his head towards a large bag of white marshmallow-like treats.

Alfred trotted up to Arthur and grabbed his shoulder, "Come on, let's go! Help me round up everyone! Or you can go help Mattie with the popcorn."

"Oh no, that won't do!" A voice called from behind. "Let me handle the popcorn."

Arthur turned around to see Francis, with a concerned expression. "No one asked you, Frog!"

"Since when did I have to be spoken to to speak? Am I not usually the first one to start a conversation?" Francis laughed, standing by Arthur.

Alfred nodded, "Yeah, he has a point, Artie. Let Francis do the popcorn. Arthur, go get everyone else. You seem to get along with everyone."

Arthur rolled his eyes, "Ah I see, Francis does not exist to you, huh?"

Alfred grunted, "Picky, picky! Fine, you seem to get along with everyone except Francis. Okay? Ha! You just defended Francis!"

"I did not, idiot! I would never defend him in my life!" Arthur shouted, causing everyone to look over.

"Okay, okay. Just go get everyone. Jeez," Alfred rolled his eyes and went to his apartment to set up for his and Matthew's hockey party.

Arthur strode over to Kiku, Ludwig, Gilbert, Lovino and Feliciano. After a bit of convincing, he managed to get them to go to Alfred's place, room 6. He then was easily able to notify Mathias, Lukas and Emil. They were good hockey fans themselves, and were up for a game every once once a while.

However, Arthur still wondered how Alfred was going to watch presumably American hockey in France. He would have to ask about that.

After about ten minutes, everyone was at Alfred's and Matthew's, piled on the couch, sitting on the floor or in chairs or in the kitchen, eating popcorn and mochis, thanks to Kiku.

Arthur strode up to Alfred, amidst the noise of chatting and laughing and loudly asked, "How are you watching hockey at a hotel in France?"

Alfred laughed, "Matthew and I found this awesome thingamajigy-whatchamacallit that let's you watch show like, anywhere when you hook it up to the TV." Arthur was soon shooed away as some other visitors came to talk to Alfred, but soon, the game was starting.

"So, anyone who doesn't know, the game is against the Vancouver Canuks, yay, and the Boston Bruins. They both want to win the Stanley Cup, so we'll see. Oh, and please save me if Alfred tries to kill me because the Canuks win," Matthew announced, which everyone surprisingly listened to.

"Bro, start the game!" Alfred commanded, stuffing popcorn in his mouth. "Arthur, you should root for the Bruins. They're awesome, even if Boston started the Revolutionary War and stuff."

Arthur nodded slowly. Personally, he disliked the Revolution and preferred not to speak about such an event.

"Um, Arthur," a little voice peeped beside him. It was Matthew, "I think the Canuks are better. They have really good players, and Canada rules at hockey."

"Uh, no! You have Burrows, biting people and the Sedin sisters! Oh, and we have Lucic, who is Canadian and from Vancouver. And you hurt some the Bruins players, too! Take that!" Alfred growled. Arthur assumed that this must be how hockey fans get this time of year.

"Yeah? Well your players are just as rough," Matthew retorted, about to describe the actions in detail.

"If you wanted me to watch you guys argue, why did you invite me to see a game?" Arthur sighed, stopping the fighting.

"Okay, let's just watch the game and what happens happens," Alfred sighed, sitting back down, slowly. He thrust a handful of popcorn in his mouth to watch the game.

The hockey game ended later that night. The Boston Bruins had won, scoring four to zero. Alfred was mocking him, and Francis went to accompany poor Matthew, upset by his brother's relentless teasing. Arthur was tired, so he began to leave when a voice came from behind him. It was Francis, of course. He always seemed to sneak up on him.

"Arthur, how can you be so cruel? You leave this innocent child to be tormented by his brother! How could you? Am I the only one here that has a heart?"

Arthur turned around, seeing Francis with Matthew slung over his shoulder. "W-what are you doing with Matthew? Put him down this instant!"

"I was just going to take him to my place so he doesn't have to be with Alfred," Francis explained, patting Matthew's back lightly.

"Put me down, I don't want to be stuck with you either," Matthew whispered, pounding his fists on Francis' back. "Arthur, help me!"

"I won't allow it, Francis. You can't just take someone against their will, and besides, even I don't trust you with him." Arthur asserted, attempting to pull Matthew away from Francis.

"No, mon amour, he's coming with me," Francis grinned evilly, striding out the door.

"H-hey!" Arthur shouted. "You said you weren't what people think you are! This sure gives me the impression that you are!"

Matthew's eyes widened, "Do you mean he is a rapist?! Help me someone! Alfred!" He pounded Francis' back again, tears streaming out of his violet eyes.

Francis stopped in his tracks and turned around. "Would you cut that out, Arthur? You know how I feel about these things. You know I'm not perverted, I told you so. What's your problem? Can't you just let me do my thing?"

His blue eyes were sad and dull and he slowly put Matthew down, letting him scramble back to his room. "British jerk," he muttered, and turned away. "This must be why people think such things about me. I only try to be myself, a fun person, in my eyes, but it always backfires. I thought better of you, Arthur."

Arthur folded his arms, "You're messing with me, right? There is no way you ever thought good of me in the first place."

"Would you shut up, Arthur?" Francis growled and stormed away, a small slip of paper falling from his pocket. He reached his door and slammed it shut. Arthur strode over to the slip of paper and picked it up. He brought it to the little pond on the courtyard and unfolded it.

_Chère moi-même,_

_Gilbert et Antonio dire que je dois donner Arthur une lettre d'amour. C'était un défi. Pourquoi ai-je l'accepter, je ne sais pas. Maintenant, je dois, et Arthur avec déteste moi pour toujours. Cette lettre est privée, donc je pourrais Autant dire qu'il a des sourcils mignon, et ces yeux d'émeraude trop ... Il est trop mignon. Peut-être que cela peut passer comme une lettre. Je vais le mettre sur sa porte afin que Gilbert et Antonio peut voir, puis prendre dos de sorte que Arthur ne le lit pas. Si Arthur a vu cela, je parie qu'il ne comprendrait pas de toute façon._

_De moi-même._

Arthur sighed. "I know this is none of my business, but I have to translate this somehow. Let's see if I recognize any words." He read over rather letter quickly, and quickly noticed the words 'love' and 'Arthur' in the same sentence. "Oh no."

**AWW HAIL NO. Well, that was a failure of a cliffhanger. No worries, I have ideas for the next chapter, which will come out fairly soon. I hope you liked my chapter, and I would really like it if someone could point out something that I did wrong, because I really would like to make this story as good as possible for you guys! I also accept any ideas that you want to happen in the story. (Feel free to poke fun at any French writing fails I have)**

**Au revoir!**


	4. June 21

**Well, here is your next chapter and newest update! I had lots of fun writing this one, and hopefully, you'll understand why. Well, read on, my pretties!**

**_June 21_**

Arthur woke up with the sun shining through the curtains of his room. However, it didn't feel cheerful. The room felt almost... creepy. There was a quiet, light sound of breathing near his bed, but Arthur was sure it was his imagination. He stayed under the covers for a few more minutes, feeling the warmth of the blankets over him for just a little while longer. Finally, Arthur decided that it would be best to get up and be ready for Feliciano's barbecue that day. He turned around to see the most horrifying scene in his entire life.

Two light blue eyes peered back at his emerald ones, with a cloudy and unimpressed look radiating from their depths. The continued to stare for a moment, interrupted by screams. Those screams came from Arthur.

"What are you doing here?" He yelled, after calming down. He was sitting on his bed, looking directly at none other than Francis. Francis kept a bored expression, and lifted his hand. In it, was the note Arthur had read last night, the one that he couldn't understand because it was in French, the one that made his nervous.

"You took this and put it in your room. I came to get it back. You didn't read it, did you?" Francis sighed, standing up to leave.

"Well, I did, but I didn't understand it. Hey! Would you care to answer my question? How did you get in here?" Arthur inquired, standing up and grabbing Francis' sleeve.

Francis raised a brow, "The door. And thank goodness you didn't read this." He held up the note. "I don't know what you would have done."

Arthur folded his arms, "That answer is not acceptable. Anyway, that tells me that you wrote something about me, and it wasn't anything good."

"Quite the contrary, mon amore," Francis replied, folding the paper back up. He started to open up the door when Arthur stopped him.

He stood there for a moment, and asked, "W-what did you write?"

Francis sighed and took the note out again. "Well, this note was a dare, you see. You have no way of knowing that I think what I wrote is true. But if you must know, it mentions your eyes and... Eyebrows."

Arthur's face turned red. If it was a blush or rage, he never knew. "What a creep! You write a note in French about my eyebrows and then stalk me in my sleep to find it?"

Francis rolled his eyes and hurried out the door, back to his room. Arthur stood there, thoughtfully. "I think I know where this dare came from." He walked over to Feliciano's room and knocked. A few seconds later, Kiku cracked open the door, rubbing his eyes.

"Oh, hello, Arthur. What do you need?" He greeted, opening the door further.

Arthur smiled, "Is Gilbert around?" He was sure that if anyone made up this dare, it was Gilbert. Arthur knew that Gilbert was generally an outgoing guy, and loved to play pranks, especially with Francis and Antonio.

"Oh yes," Kiku nodded, and motioned for the larger albino to come over. "Gilbert, Arthur is here to see you."

Gilbert stumbled over pots and pans in the kitchen, which Feliciano was using, cooking up a storm. He hurried over to the doorway and replaced Kiku's spot. "Yes, Arthur? How much of my awesome time do you have to take up?"

"Uh, only a few minutes," Arthur concluded. "Do you know anything of a dare that Francis had to do?"

Gilbert laughed hysterically, "Haha! You found out about it? Antonio, Francis and I did a contest to see who could drink a glass of beer the fastest. Of course, I won, and Antonio came in second. So, we had to punish Francis for being a loser, so we commanded him to write you a love letter, because he hates you so much!"

Arthur gasped, "So, it wasn't his fault? Perhaps I should apologize to him."

"I'll tell him your sorry for getting mad at him. It's obvious that you did," Gilbert chucked, his face beet red from the laughing. "That was a fun contest. Oh, and Feli's barbecue is at 11 and until, well... It's all day. So, be ready!"

Arthur nodded and turned to leave. He headed back to his room to get dressed for Feliciano's barbecue. By the time he was done, Arthur was wearing a green suit and dress pants. He had some extra time, so he figured that he might as well watch television for a bit.

11:00 soon arrived, and Arthur slowly ambled out the door into the fresh sunlight. The trees in the courtyard were glimmering with a golden shine, with the ground a heavenly mix of lemon and shadow. Everyone was sitting on chairs at tables, while some were using the grills. Arthur strode over to the gathering and took a seat next to Kiku, who was holding a cup of tea and talking quietly to Yao, who was sitting next to him. Arthur turned his head to see Gilbert, Francis and Feliciano working the grills.

"Hello, Kiku," Arthur smiled, greeting the shorter man. "How are you?"

Kiku nodded, "I've very well, thank you." He took another sip of tea and asked, "Did you hear that there are going to be some more people arriving today?"

"Feliciano mentioned it. I hope they arrive soon," Arthur replied, and looked to the far end of the table. Alfred was attempting to begin a food fight, but no one was interested or cared.

"Come on, guys! What's a big giant lunch-dinner for without a food fight?" Alfred cried, poking Gilbert roughly, almost sending him face-first into the grill.

Gilbert turned around stunned, "Alfred! Cut that out! You almost burned my awesome face!" He pushed the younger American away and continued to grill whatever he was grilling. The delicious smell floated around the courtyard, amidst the loud chatter and laughing. Arthur's stomach growled. He was famished, and watching Alfred stuff hamburgers in his huge mouth did not help. Not that he liked hamburgers, of course.

"Artie, want a burger? They're delicious!" Alfred offered, holding the sloppy mess to Arthur's emerald eyes.

Arthur pushed the food away slowly, with a face of disgust, "Eh, no thank you. I think the food I make is much better."

Francis turned around from his grill with a look of horror, "Arthur! That is the most insulting thing you could ever say!" He was holding a spatula above his head, ready to whack Arthur with the utensil.

"Get the bloody spatula away from me, Francis. You didn't happen to post those pictures of the... food online, did you?" Arthur questioned, standing up, face to face with the older blonde.

"Honhonhonhon... Maybe I did, maybe I didn't, mon amour," Francis replied, a smirk on his face.

"You better not have!" Arthur cried, sending a slap to Francis' face. The impact was loud, and left a red mark on his cheek. "Oh... I'm sorry!"

Francis growled lifted his spatula, "That was highly unnecessary, Monsieur! Time for your punishment!" Quickly, the spatula slapped Arthur's arm, even harder and louder than the slap.

"Bloody frog!" Arthur screamed, throwing himself into Francis attempting to punch his face. Francis dodged, and tripped Arthur, his head connecting with the grill. Francis placed a foot on Arthur's back, holding him still. Arthur screamed and threw Francis' leg off, pulling him to the ground and wrestled with him.

By now, everyone was watching in awe, not thinking to interfere. That was a good thing, however, since Arthur felt like 'beating the crap out of' as Alfred says, of Francis. Francis threw a light punch to Arthur's face, but Arthur growled and elbowed his stomach. Francis yowled, like a cat, and started to choke Arthur. His face was turning red, then purple. Finally, someone had the guts to interfere with the fighting men. Ludwig came and effortlessly lifted Francis off of Arthur and returned him to the grill. Silently and slowly, he slung Arthur over his shoulder and put him in his seat. Blood was trickling down Arthur's forehead.

Kiku handed Arthur a napkin and asked, "Arthur... Are you alright?"

Arthur sighed, "It was my fault. I shouldn't have slapped him in the first place. But he shouldn't have hit me with a spatula! Do you know how much that hurts?" He rubbed his arm where the metal road had hit him. "That man is frog, that's what he is."

Suddenly, two men walked in through the door to the courtyard. One was extremely tall, with glasses. The others was relatively short, with big eyes and blonde hair. "Hello. I am Berwald, and this is Tino, my wife."

Tino, the shorter one, smiled slowly, and quickly said, "I'm not your wife!" He turned to Berwald and looked right up at him.

"Oh, let me show you to your room!" Feliciano grinned, and dragged the two over to room twelve.

Gilbert chucked a bit, and went back to grilling, which Arthur finally learned were sausages. He later piled the, onto plates and put a few on the table. "Dig in, my pretties!" He joked, and went back to grilling.

Arthur took a few sausages and began to eat. Feliciano came hurrying back, while yelling, "Come join us when you finish unpacking!" He waved and ran into his room. Arthur finished his last sausage and noticed Vash and Lili arriving to the table. Vash walked over to Lukas, in the middle section of the table and reluctantly slipped him a stick of butter.

"I got this for you," he sighed, and went to sit down with Lili. Lukas gave a minute smile and unwrapped the butter. He began to eat it like a banana.

"Lukas! What are you doing? That is so gross!" Mathias cried, attempting to take the butter away from the smaller man.

"No, the butter is mine. This is how I like it. It's the new best thing back in Norway," Lukas retorted, taking another bite.

Emil sighed, "Lukas, that can't possibly be good for your health. And since when did you do such things?"

Lukas looked to his brother, "It's actually part of a diet. It requires a lot of butter. I discovered butter-stick eating when I tried it."

Mathias growled, "Lukas! You're as thin as a twig! You can't just go on a diet like that!"

"I wasn't trying the diet, Mathias. I tried the butter," Lukas replied, taking yet another bite of the butter.

"That's it!" Mathias screamed, grabbing the butter. "Give me the butter!"

"Nei! It's my smør!" Lukas yelled, keeping the butter in his hands, anger in his eyes.

Mathias jumped onto the table and tugged the butter out of Lukas' hands. He stood up tall and proud, holding the butter for all to see. "Butterfingers!" He laughed. Some people at the table hooted and clapped, but that didn't last for long. Lukas grabbed Mathias' leg and pulled him down, and grabbed the butter back and started eating again. Mathias groaned and stayed laying on the table in pain. The look in Lukas' eye seemed to lack any regret as he stares at Mathias in pain in front of him. The Dane curled up, holding his stomach and growled more, "Lukas, I am going to kill you."

Lukas kept biting at the butter, which was almost gone now. Emil, beside him, was staring in awe at Mathias and Lukas. "Who knew butter would get so... Violent..."

Lukas raised a brow, eating the last of the butter, "Well, you should have left me and smør alone. Then I wouldn't have to hurt Mathias."

Ludwig stood up slowly and carried Mathias off the table without a word and sat him in his plastic white chair. He walked back to his seat and continued to eat. "I wish I was as strong as Ludwig! Then I could be a superhero!" Feliciano chimed, breaking the eerie silence, passing out plates of pasta for everyone.

Kiku raised a hand, "Feliciano, did you just grill pasta?"

Feliciano shook his head, "No. While you were doing shenanigans, I finished the pasta I was working on before." He placed a plate in front of Arthur, quickly. The smell drifted up into his nose, making him instinctively smile.

"Feliciano, you can work miracles with pasta, clearly," Arthur commented, putting some of the pasta in his mouth. This was followed by mutters of agreement.

Feliciano grinned, "Well, my grandpa taught me how to be the best pasta maker in the world! I've had practice for many years!" He sat down next to Ludwig to eat his own plate of delicious pasta.

Soon, it was growing dark and Francis decided that everyone should have some wine. So, he took out his best bottle and poured everyone a bit. When he came to Arthur he whispered, "I'll carry you home in case you get drunk!"

Arthur growled at the offer, as he knew that firstly, he could walk home drunk fine, and secondly, he wasn't going to get drunk on a tiny bit of wine. However, alcohol took effect on him very quickly, so he always has to be careful, which never really happens.

By the time the group had finished chatting, it was relatively late and everyone was beginning to get tired. Arthur waved a goodbye to Kiku and Yao, who he talked with for a while, and headed to his room, and hurried inside. He locked the door as well as he could, hoping that Francis wouldn't find a way in. This First Day of Summer Barbecue had been one of the best nights of his life, though the barbecue might have been one of the most awkward and chaotic ones ever.

**Um... Yeah, that final sentence pretty much sums up this chapter right there. So, I will provide you all some information really quick. Smør is butter in Norwegian, if you couldn't guess. And yeah, I'm still working hard to make these chapters come out so that you can read them without waiting a week, because that's no fun!**


	5. June 22

**Here it is! This chapter was fun to write, definetly! Well, I hope you all like this one, because I had a little bit of a delay in order to correct some of the plot!**

**_June 22_**

Now that it was summer, everyone had decided to go fishing by the river. However, they couldn't do so in the depths of Paris, so they planned to go out of the city, down the river. Arthur was quite glad that he didn't have to go swimming, but fishing wasn't his strongpoint. He disliked the wriggling wet, scaly grey body, hanging before him on a stick. It seemed mean and unnecessary to do so. But, what was done was done and Arthur was walking out of the hotel with Kiku alongside him to join the others in waiting for a bus.

"Francis, the bus won't go out of the city will it? How will we get down the river?" Alfred asked, holding a fishing pole over his shoulder.

Francis shook his head, "The plan is to take a bus as far down the river as possible. Then, we will walk the rest of the way. I hope you all don't mind walking! So, don't bring so much stuff. I am talking about you, Vash."

Vash groaned, "It's always good to be prepared for any scenario." He was lugging a huge green bag piled to the top, while Lili was merely holding her hat and fishing pole.

"I've never gone fishing before..." Kiku told Arthur, "Despite living by the sea all of my life, it never really caught my interest."

Arthur nodded, "I've been fishing before, but I'm no good at it. My father would take my brothers and I to the docks to catch some fish. They always caught things, but not I."

Kiku murmured a quiet comment that Arthur couldn't hear, and the bus soon arrived at their stop. The many people in the group, except for Heracles, who was asleep, climbed on. Lucky for them, the bus was empty when it arrived, so it could accommodate everyone. Arthur stood near the front of the vehicle as it started to move, holding onto the metal bar. The Siene River sped by, the waves rippling against the wind. It was a nice summer day, for the sun was shining on the water, giving it a Caribbean blue gleam. The bus soon stopped close to the edge of the city, where he passengers hopped off. Francis arranged them all into an orderly group.

"So, everyone! We are going to follow this road into the forest over there. I happen to know a nice little clearing where we can hang around and fish and have a picnic," he explained, and began to lead everyone down the river. They spent some time on the sidewalk, and later just trekked on the grass, and into the woods.

Katyusha, at the back with Natalia, complained, "Do you expect us to just run into the woods? There are so many plants!" Francis turned around and smirked. He pushed the branches of a berry bush aside to see a cleanly cut path. "Oh..." The blonde woman realized, and followed the others onto the trail.

The walk was long and peaceful, as no one spoke. Everyone admired the beauty and serenity of the forest, the opposite of the crowded, loud city they had been in for the past few days. Francis stopped everyone in a huge clearing by the river, which lapped at the rocks on its banks.

Arthur set down his bag and opened it up. Inside were a few sandwiches that he made himself, a random book he had grabbed from the table by his bed, a blanket to sit on and a sweater. He hadn't planned on going fishing, so he didn't bring a fishing rod or bait.

The people with fishing rods, Alfred, Francis, Feliciano, Ludwig, Vash and Lili and Michelle, set up their things and chatted while their cast their lines. Arthur picked a place in the shade to sit and read his book. That was interrupted, however, by Gilbert, who sat down right next to him. The man was certainly too loud for Arthur to read, so he put down his book and walked over to Kiku.

"I hope you don't mind if I sit here," Arthur said, sitting down in the grass beside the Japanese man.

Kiku turned around and smiled, "Oh, it's no problem, Arthur. I'd always like some good company, since we both aren't fishing, and all. Would you like some of the tea I brought?"

Arthur nodded, and let Kiku pour him a cup of tea to drink. As they sat there, enjoying the beverage, a commotion erupted from the riverbanks. Michelle was laughing at Alfred, "Ha! You think you can catch more fish than me? I come from he Seychelles, and they are islands! I practically grew up fishing! I eat fish for every meal!"

Alfred grinned, "Well then, I challenge you to a fish catching contest. I will totally beat you though, because the hero always wins!" He cast his line with such a force that it went almost halfway across the river. Michelle took her time picking the perfect bait and then cast her line with great technique. Everyone, even Arthur and Kiku, had gathered around to watch the competition.

"I've spent enough time with Alfred to know that he thinks he's some kind of hero... He must have really loved super hero comics when he was younger. He's also ambitious, so I believe that Michelle will win," Kiku observed, watching Michelle carefully. The girl's line wriggled, and she pulled it up, revealing a huge, beautiful fish that Arthur couldn't recognize, gleaming navy blue in the sunlight. An eruption of cheer came from the crowd, praising Michelle for her current lead.

Alfred growled, and soon pulled up his own, smaller fish. However, everyone was rooting for Michelle, save Matthew, who no one could hear anyway. The contest lasted about thirty minutes, when Michelle had caught fourteen fish, to Alfred's six.

"See Alfred? I told you that I can't be beaten in a fishing contest!" Michelle bragged, letting the fish that were still alive back into the rushing river. She stood up, dusted off her hands and went to go sit down on Sadik's blanket nearby, since he was her roommate.

Alfred had a devastated look in his eyes, but kept his posture tall so that no one saw. "Well, you might be better at fishing than me, but I am totally better at everything else!" He put his fishing rod away and went to sit down at his and Matthew's blanket. That didn't last long, as he went up to go talk to Francis, "Francis, dude! Can we go swimming in this river?"

Francis shrugged, "I'm not sure, but if you do, I recommend that you don't draw attention from people that will kick you out, you know?"

Alfred nodded and went into the woods to change into a bathing suit. He returned shortly and hopped into the river, laughing. Arthur scowled and finished another cup of tea that Kiku had given him.

The urge to swim caught on to some of the others, and soon, Feliciano, Ivan, Yao, Michelle, Antonio and even Ludwig were in the water, laughing and diving beneath the ripples. Arthur and Kiku stayed sitting and watched them, splashing and having a good old time.

"Arthur, I presume you don't like to swim?" Kiku asked, looking up at his new, taller friend.

Arthur shook his head, quickly, "Definitely not. I've never been able to keep myself afloat. Ever since I was a child, the moment I touched water, I would sink." He turned his head to the crowd of swimmers, sadness in his eyes.

Kiku sighed, "Well, that's too bad... I think I will go in. See you. Arthur!" He pointed behind Arthur.

Arthur slowly turned his head to see Francis, who grabbed him by his torso and carried him quickly over to the water. "Frog, no! Stop it! Stop! Leave me be! No! No! I can't swim! I can't swim!"

Francis laughed as he tossed Arthur into the water, causing a big splash around everyone else. He stayed afloat for a moment, flailing and pleading for help, but sank after too much struggle. Francis jumped in behind him, and pulled the younger man up by the arm. He towed him back to shore, and helped him choke the water out of his lungs.

"Th-thank you..." Arthur chattered his teeth, now wrapped in a towel that Alfred had provided. "B-but that was n-not funny, jerk! Why did you do that?"

Francis sighed, "Mon petit lapin... I was only trying to have fun. I saved you, didn't I? You sure overreact a lot. Do you need a friendship-hug?" Without a word, Francis gave Arthur a quick hug, receiving an "Aww!" from Elizaveta. Arthur was still shivering, but didn't return Francis' "friendship-hug".

"I hate you so much," was his only reply, and Kiku handed Arthur a cup of warm tea. He then ate one of his sandwiches, causing Francis to dramatically tremble in fear.

"Francis, you're like a teenage girl," Arthur joked, holding the half-eating sandwich to his face. "My food won't come and get you!"

Francis rolled his eyes, "Yeah! Well, you can't swim and I plan to teach you just that, kitty!" He chuckled at his own joke, receiving a light punch to the gut from Arthur. His face was unamused, and everyone around was unsure whether the two were finally getting along or they were fighting again.

"Come on Francis," Yao broke in, pulling the long-haired blonde away. "Let's do our own thing and forget all of this."

Arthur sighed, and held himself back from making another witty comment he had in mind. However, this wasn't the time for that.

After a little while longer, Francis announced, "Everyone! We should probably head back now, if we want to get back in the city before dark!" The group started to pack up their things, which took longer than expected, as usual. Arthur had figured that when working all together, no one could get anything done efficiently and on time. There was always some sort of disaster. For example, Vash's entire bag emptied out, which may or may not have had Roderich involved. Then, Veneziano was pushed into the water at the fault of Antonio. The two soon began to fight, until Feliciano begged Ludwig to make them stop, so they don't kill each other. To Arthur, it appeared that Feliciano's brother actually wanted to kill Antonio.

Now that all of the distractions were over, Francis lead the group through the trail and out of the woods. It took roughly an hour to get back to the streets of Paris, where they had to wait for a bus, since the one they were supposed to be on was full.

"I've had enough," Arthur groaned, "I'm going to walk home. Does anyone else want to come?" It had been at least a half hour since the last bus was there, and night was approaching quickly.

"I'll come, mon amour!" Francis volunteered, along with Kiku, Yao, Ivan, Natalia, Katyusha and Gilbert.

The group started to make their way through the winding streets, with Francis leading the way. Lights were flickering on and shops were closing their doors as the starts began to take their places in the sky. The trip was mostly full of silence, until Gilbert managed to collide head on with a woman, spilling all of her bags onto the ground.

"Monsieur, watch where you are going!" She scolded, hurrying to pick the contents of the bags up. Quickly and quietly, she smacked Gilbert upside the head with her purse as she left in a hurry.

"Yeesh! What is wrong with these people, Francis?" Gilbert whined, rubbing the side of his head.

Francis rolled his eyes, "Firstly, you hit a woman, secondly, you didn't help her, and thirdly, you never apologized. Does that explain everything?" He folded his arms and lifted a brow at the larger man.

Gilbert nodded, and without a word, the group walked the rest of the way home. They arrived at the hotel about ten minutes earlier than everyone else on the bus. "I knew it was worth it!" Gilbert laughed at Ludwig. "We were faster and walking is good for your legs!"

Ludwig scowled, "You weren't carrying all of these bags, Bruder! And Feli didn't want to walk..."

"Well, I still win, for I am awesome. And I must remind you, you cannot challenge or overthrow such awesomeness or you will be declared unawesome!" Gilbert stated, likely using his own logic. "And since I am so awesome, I am authorized declare that you will have to sleep outside tonight! Unawesome people are not allowed in this hotel room, oh no!"

"No," Ludwig replied, and waked straight into the room they shared with Feliciano and Kiku.

"Hey! I'm your older brother and in charge! Now, you have to sleep outside!" Gilbert pushed, trying to pull Ludwig out of the doorway. Ludwig simply kept walking, let Kiku and Feliciano inside and shut the door, leaving Gilbert outside.

"Bruder!" He cried pounding on the door as hard as he could. "Let my awesome self in right now!"

Arthur rushed over to stop Gilbert, in fear that the stronger man would break the door. "Calm down, Gilbert! Your brother will probably let you in in a moment."

Gilbert's ruby eyes showed doubt as he hit the door again and again. Arthur tried to pull him back again, and Elizaveta and Roderich came to check what all of the ruckus was about.

"Now come on!" Roderich groaned and pulled on Gilbert as hard as he could. "You should not be banging on doors at night like a two year old!"

"LUDWIG!" Gilbert screamed, sending most of the people running outside to see what was going on. "LET ME IN!"

"Shut up, potato-eater!" Veneziano screeched from next door, his face red with fury.

"Stop it, Gilbert! You're making a scene!" Elizaveta cried, helping Arthur and Roderich pull him away from the door.

"Nein!" Ludwig shouted from behind the door. "None of us want to deal with you tonight! You stay with someone else!"

Gilbert slowly stopped slamming the door and stood up and dusted himself off. "What an idiot! Kicking how own brother out of the hotel room!"

Arthur broke in, "Isn't that what you were doing?"

Gilbert nodded, "I suppose. But he's younger than I! And I am more awesome! Hey, Roderich, can I stay with you tonight?"

Roderich pondered for a moment, and concluded, "Yes, just don't do anything to my precious piano. You can lay on the couch."

Arthur slowly walked to his room and changed into something comfortable to sleep in. What an interesting day it was... Then again, you couldn't expect anyone to get their act together in that hotel, Arthur had already learned that for the past few days. Not a single time had anyone gotten anything done correctly, and the truth was, Arthur liked being with them.

**Yay, Iggy's having fun... I think. Actually, I haven't decided yet. Well, I have 98 days to make things happen, so lots of things are going to occur! Stay in tune!**


	6. June 23

**Well, here it is! Your next chapter! This one is kinda fun... And yay, they finally go somewhere in Paris!**

**_June 23_**

The day started out foggy, blanketing the hotel in a moist sky of white. Arthur, growing up in London, enjoyed the rain very much, with it's soft feeling and the sound of a pitter-patter, pitter-patter. So, instinctively, he longed for the rain to occur on such a cool, dark day.

A knock on Arthur's door signaled that someone must have a plan for the day, as the form of connection between everyone was to go door to door and repeat the same thing over and over again. Arthur slipped on a sweater and cracked open the door to see Francis, Alfred, Yao and Ivan waiting there,

"Artie!" Alfred laughed, pulling the older Brit out of the doorway. "Francis said that we have to go downtown today because he wants us to see the shops!" Arthur could easily tell that the man was faking his enthusiasm, for there was a panicked look in his eyes. He leaned in and whispered, "Hey, would you like, keep Francis busy so I can go see that electronics store that he doesn't want me to see?"

Arthur nodded slowly, and his eyes wandered to Francis, who was watching him like a hawk.

"Do we have to bring this con with us?" Francis complained, using yet another French word that Arthur couldn't recognize. "He'll only get in our way of having a good time!"

Alfred patted Arthur's shoulder quickly, "Oh yeah, he's coming and there's nothing you can do about it!" He grabbed the shorter man's shoulder and held him in front of him, as if hugging a teddy bear.

Arthur struggled to get away from Alfred's grasp, until he finally let go. Wheezing, he asked, "Francis! What do those words mean and why do you use them! Sometimes, I think you're saying rather rude things about me, but I cannot tell!"

Francis laughed, "Get a dictionary, mon petit chou!" Alfred chucked from behind and tossed Arthur a French-English dictionary to use. Arthur opened the small book and flipped through for a moment.

Slowly, he read aloud, "Chou... Means cabbage... Francis, why are you calling me a cabbage?!"

Francis shrugged, and hurried to get out into the streets of Paris. The damp air made it hard to see anything, save for a few nearby shops and cafés. The blonde Frenchman lead the group to a small café down the road, and opened the door for everyone. "First, we'll have breakfast," he insisted and closed the door behind him after everyone had walked inside. The café's atmosphere was cheery and warm, with plain apricot walls, along with tables and chairs with a flowery pattern. Arthur set down his things at a seat, far away from Francis and shuffled up to the front counter to order breakfast.

"Might I have a bagel and Earl Grey tea, please?" Arthur asked at the counter, receiving a confused look from the woman at the counter. Francis hurried up behind him and cleared his throat.

"Il dit que je pourrais avoir un bagel et du thé, s'il vous plaît? Et puis-je avoir un croissant, aussi?" He translated. The woman smiled and nodded quickly, grabbing a bagel and tea for Arthur and a croissant for Francis.

"Ici, ils sont. Ce sera € 2,55, monsieur," the woman requested, passing the food to Arthur and Francis. Arthur bent down to gather a few Euros, but noticed Francis doing so as well. He put a hand on his shoulder.

"Francis, let me pay, please," Arthur volunteered, pulling out €2.55.

Francis shook his head, "No, me, mon amour! Don't worry about it!" He pulled out the same amount and thrust it over to the woman at the counter. Arthur looked at his slowly, frustratedly, to say the least, and put the money back in his bag. The two walked back to their seats, on separate ends of the café and began to eat.

Arthur's silence and solitude was interrupted by Francis, who was standing behind him with a napkin. "Monsieur, have a napkin. Tea isn't exactly squeaky clean," he offered, holding the white cloth out to him.

Arthur slowly accepted it, only to mumble, "So isn't yourself..." He wiped his face with it and stood up to throw the napkin away.

Francis sighed darkly, "Oh Arthur, you know that I can hear everything you say. And you also know that I don't take those insults lightly." He revealed a grin that only a evil mastermind could conjure up, but it returned to normal when Yao jumped between them, before anything started, in public.

"Seriously you two, just act civilized like us," he complained, pointing to an Ivan that was holding a pipe and an Alfred that was stuffing burgers from who-knows-where into his mouth.

Francis and Arthur looked at each other and laughed hysterically, as if Yao was making some kind of joke. "Hey!" He snapped, looking right into the two mens' eyes. "Well, at least you aren't fighting." Arthur stopped laughing instantly, but in return, he received an elbow to the stomach from Francis.

"Francis, that is the last straw!" He growled lowly, holding the Frenchman by his shirt collar. "You hit me one more time and-"

"Hey guys!" Alfred interrupted, "C'mon! Let's go wherever we're supposed to go now!" He held open the door for Ivan, Yao, Francis and Arthur as they stepped outside and stood in a small circle. "So," the American asked, "What's the plan, Francis?"

Francis lifted a finger, "We're going to take a left to go see this candle shop that I heard was nice, then to this flower boutique that I know you will absolutely enjoy!"

Alfred rolled his eyes, "Francis, we need to pick somewhere manly to go! Isn't there an electronics store on the right?" He continued to complain, but Arthur blocked it out as if it wasn't happening at all.

Francis placed his hands on his hips and retorted, "There is, but you are not going! You are staying and going to the candle shop and flower boutique like the rest of us! I am not going to search for you in the middle of the night because you got lost in some random street in Paris and don't know your way back. Come on, let's go."

And with that, Francis marched off into the fog to the candle shop down the street. Arthur, Yao and Ivan followed behind, and Alfred stood there, crestfallen. Out of the corner of his eye, Arthur spotted Alfred running off in the opposite direct to the electronics store, no doubt. He remembered that he had agreed to keep Francis busy so that he wouldn't notice that the American was off on his own adventures, and Arthur never went back on his promises, no matter how much he regretted him.

The group of four turned into this small, clean little building named Vive La Bougies. The little bell on the door jingled, and Arthur, Francis, Yao and Ivan split up into separate rows that suited their interest. Arthur browsed for a moment, looking at and smelling all of the different candles he liked. One particular one that caught his eye was a little green rabbit that gave off an evergreen aroma. He picked it up and checked the price. It wasn't expensive, and it would look very good on top of his fireplace back in London.

Arthur turned around to see Francis with a candle shaped like some kind of abstract sculpture that looked like nothing in particular.

"You've picked that?" He asked, his eyes wandering to the rabbit candle in Arthur's hands. "It's cute. It's certainly cuter than your face!"

Arthur raised a brow, "Oh, so now you're comparing my face to candles now? What a... Compliment. Bloody frog, mind your business!" He gave a little shove to the long-haired Frenchman and walked up to the counter to purchase the candle he had selected. "Why do you always have to make fun of me..." He mumbled under his breath, pulling out a few Euros and giving them to the cashier.

Francis walked up behind him, along with Ivan and Yao to buy his candle, and, sooner than they knew it, they were standing outside in the drizzle. "Everyone!" Francis announced. "The weather readings predict heavy rain today, so if we want to make it to the flower boutique on time, we have to hurry! And Arthur, I also know a bookstore down to corner we can go to if we are quick enough."

Arthur nodded and followed the group on the long walk to the flower boutique. There were men and women dashing for cover under awnings as the rain started to pour. The flower shop was still open, thankfully, as it had no roof. Arthur followed Francis to the flower arrangements and watched him. He himself was not interested in flowers, though they were beautiful and pleasant. Francis appeared to be searching for a particular flower, as he carefully inspected each one. Finally, he selected merely one stunning red rose that looked like it had a velvety soft texture. It was undoubtedly among one of the most beautiful things he had ever seen.

Francis lead the others out and to across the street, quickly, as the rain was beginning to pour hard. They walked inside the warm and nicely furnished bookstore. "This is beautiful," Arthur gasped in awe at the books.

"I know," Yao agreed and strode over to the bookcases upon bookcases around him. "It's amazing..."

Arthur took his time browsing the book aisles, chock full of literature. He came across a French-English dictionary, which he figured that he would need, and an interesting fantasy adventure that caught his eye. Arthur had to Euros to buy these, but he made sure to think it through very carefully.

"Arthur, if you take so much time, how are going to get home?" Francis complained, with Yao and Ivan at his sides.

Arthur scowled, "What, you don't have the guts to trek through the rain?" He held up his books and went up to the cash register. "See? I'm going, I'm going."

Ivan laughed, "Kolkolkolkolkolkolkolkol..." Yao turned around with a look of horror on his face. He ran over to Arthur and hugged his arm in fear.

Francis shrieked and pushed the enormously tall man away and hurried over to Arthur to hug Yao. The two were leaning on Arthur heavily, and he was about to lose his balance... It took one shiver from Francis to send them tumbling to the ground, in a mess of legs and arms.

"Get your nasty foot out of my face, you idiot!" Arthur yelled pushing the boot away.

Francis laughed and helped the other two get up. "Ivan, don't scare us like that ever again, got it?" He was still shivering from the startling event, and Arthur let him to his own thing while he purchased his books. The four men strode out of the bookstore into the pouring rain, soaking their coats instantly.

"See?" Francis cried, hurrying for cover under a nearby awning. "You took too long and now we'll be soaked!"

Arthur shrugged, "I think rain is a wonderful thing. Now come on, don't be such a girl. We have to get home." He lead the way through the soaking streets, as the rain only got more intense. Thunder shrieked across the skies, and lightning touched down onto the earth. The storm surely wasn't showing any signs of calming down when Arthur, Francis, Ivan and Yao arrived at the hotel.

As soon as they walked in, Germania stopped Francis and pointed to a phone, "This is for you." Francis took the phone and put and ear to it. Arthur leaned in to hear it also, but the sound was barely audible.

Francis broke into a fit of laughter, "Of course I noticed that you weren't there! But I didn't care, because you would be a nuisance anyway. ... ... No... ... Stop, I'm not helping you. It was your own fault after all... Go away... Bye..." He hung up the phone and handed it back to Germania.

Arthur poked Francis' shoulder, "I presume that was Alfred, and he got lost?"

Francis nodded, and headed into the hallway to the courtyard. Arthur sighed and went up to the front desk. "Germania, do you have a map of the city?" Germania nodded and passed a slip of paper over. "And, do you still have Alfred's phone number?" The tall, larger blonde nodded once more and handed the phone to Arthur after dialing the younger man's number.

The phone ringer for a few moments until a voice picked up.

"Hello? Who is this?"

"It's me, Arthur. So, you're lost?"

"Yeah. I'm near the Eiffel Tower... I think."

"Okay... Why in the bloody world can't you get a taxi?"

"I blew all my money on this awesome-"

"Alfred! Do you ever think before you do things? Get a taxi right now and I'll pay for you when you arrive."

"Alright, if you say so, Artie."

The line dropped, and Arthur sat in the lobby to wait for the taxi to show up. If finally did, struggling against the pounding rain, and a soaked Alfred stepped out. Arthur went to the taxi and quick to paid the fee, and lead Alfred inside,

"Never do that again, you hear?" Arthur scolded, holding Alfred's shoulders tightly. "We can't always watch you all the time. There's going to be a day when no one can help you and you'll be left to fend for yourself. Please, Alfred, be careful."

Alfred nodded, his blue eyes still shining happily. He ran to his room, and Arthur walked to his, and began to read the new book that he had bought, and so far, it was great.

**Well, now you know that Arthur cares about Alfred's safety... I don't really know where I'm going with this one. I'm sure their relationship with each other will get more complex. So far, I'm leaning towards brotherly, but they feel so distant! I'll work it out somehow. See you all soon! **


	7. June 24

**I am so sorry, everyone! I know it has been a while, and I said that I would update every few days! Well, I have finally finished this chapter, and hoping to finish the next one today. Anyways, I am so sorry!**

**June 24**

The morning of June 24th was a quiet, but soaked one. The rain had continued well into the night, leaving everyone and everything dripping from the downpour. However, the sun was shining on the hotel courtyard, giving it a bright, cheerful look. Arthur was outside, sitting by the pond, reading the book he bought yesterday. He was a very quick reader, and was already done with about a quarter of the book.

The plan today was for everyone to go swimming in the hotel pool, since the streets were wet and muggy. Arthur agreed, only because he didn't look forward to trekking in puddles all day, like yesterday.

Once everyone had woken up, Arthur put some things in a bag and followed them through the hallway and to the pool. Upon contact with the warm air beyond the glass doors, Arthur shivered. Francis turned around and chuckled at his reaction as he led everyone to the chairs around the edge of the pool. As he sat down and arranged his things, Arthur spotted Alfred cannonball into the warm, shining water. The splash erupted from the pool with such a force that it sprayed Arthur's back, so much so that his shirt was completely soaked.

"Alfred!" Arthur growled, walking to the edge of the pool. "Was that really necessary?"

Alfred rolled his eyes, treading water above the depths below. "You bet! I just love the feeling of a wall of water rising above me, and the noisy noise, and the connection of warm water with my cold body!" He laughed happily and dove under the water.

Arthur sighed and sat down, pulling out his book. Most everyone was swimming by now, save for Arthur, Kiku and Francis. Francis walked over to where Arthur was sitting and poked him. "What do you need, Frog?" He asked, still reading his book.

"You're coming in the water. Let's go," Francis commanded, trying to pull on Arthur's arm.

Arthur looked up, his green eyes connecting with blue, "No. You know that I can't swim!"

"Yes, and you know that I told you that I would teach you how to, two days ago," Francis reminded him, still pulling on the younger man's arm. Arthur pulled back, his book now back in his bag.

"Leave me alone, you idiot! I've never swam before, nor will I ever," he retorted, but Francis was still trying to pull him up. Finally, he succeeded, pulling Arthur to his feet.

"Do you have a swimsuit?" Francis asked, looking over at Arthur's bag hopefully.

Arthur shook his head, "No. I haven't planned on swimming this summer." Francis thought for a moment and grabbed Arthur's shirt.

"N-no, that won't be necessary," Arthur cried, pushing Francis' hand away.

"Why not, mon amour?" Francis asked. "Are you sure you want to swim in that shirt? It's quite cute."

Arthur looked down at the fabric he was wearing. It pictured a unicorn and it's foal, huddling in the forest together. That shirt was one of his favourites, and he certainly didn't want to bathe it in chlorine. "I guess not. But I'll take it of myself," he agreed, and pulled the shirt off. Luckily, he was wearing shorts and wouldn't have to swim in pants.

"Splendid," Francis laughed. "Come on. You need to learn how to swim if you want to hang out with us and actually have fun!" He led Arthur by the hand to the stairs descending into the shallow end of the pool.

Francis leapt in, and waited for Arthur to follow. The British man slowly walked in, one step at a a time. Francis rolled his eyes and waded deeper into the water, until it was up to his shoulders. "Now! Arthur, they key of breathing is to stay above the water. So, don't bring your head down and absolutely don't try to breathe underwater. It won't work."

"I know that, Frog!" Arthur pouted, crossing his arms.

Francis laughed, "I'm aware that you do, but it is possible to forget. Now, I will teach you how to float, as this is important." He quickly turned over and floated on his back, and stood up again. "Now, you try."

Arthur turned over slowly, and started to sink. Francis leaned forward and caught him, and held him up. "Now," he instructed, "Stretch your legs and arms... Straighten your back... Perfect!" He withdrew his hold on Arthur's back, and the Brit began to float.

Arthur smiled, "Wow... You did it. I'm actually floating." He placed his feet back on the floor of the pool, with his hands at his sides. "Thanks."

Francis smirked, "You don't think you're done, do you? You have yet learn the basics! We have strokes, treading water, flips..." He placed a wet hand on Arthur's shoulder. "First, you learn the Crawl Stroke."

Arthur groaned, and nodded slowly. "Alright, show me."

Francis floated on his belly and did the Crawl Stroke quickly. His arms went above his head, and into the water, with his hands cupped to push the water behind him. The long-haired blonde stood up again and walked over to Arthur. "Alright, let's start with the stroke." He held Arthur's arm in his hands and directed it over his head and into the water, like he did so before.

Arthur mimicked Francis' guidance, and eventually got the hang of it. He floated onto his belly and started to stroke, but he wasn't as fast as him. "I'm not as fast as you," he complained, standing up.

Francis had an unamused look on his face, "You have to kick with your feet, Ma Cherie..."

Arthur chuckled at his own fault and attempted the stroke again, this time much faster. Francis clapped behind him, but Arthur was getting tired. He didn't know how to breathe while swimming, so he tried to stand up and ask. However, his feet didn't touch the bottom, catching him by surprise. Arthur's arms flailed as he tried to stay above the water.

"Arthur! Move your arms from side to side and your feet like you're riding a bike! That'll help you tread water!" Francis cried through cupped hands. He was hurrying over, but Arthur was relatively far away.

Arthur heard his directions, and tried to tread water. It turned out to work, thankfully, and Arthur was making his way over it Francis. Francis reached him and grabbed his shoulders. "That was great! However, next time, turn your head to breathe. You a most have it. And Prussia said I wasn't awesome!"

Arthur chuckled a little bit and tried to swim again. This time, he was able to be fast and breathe, until he bumped in Alfred.

"Whoa dude!" he younger man exclaimed in shock. "Oh, it's you. I thought you couldn't swim."

Arthur lifted his head, "Oh, Francis was teaching me." Now he was treading water, as the pool was at least 7 feet deep in this part.

Alfred looked over at Francis and glared, "Francis! How am I going to be a hero now? He can swim!" He laughed afterward, hinting that it was a joke. Francis chuckled back, reaching the two.

"Even if I couldn't swim, I wouldn't let you save me," Arthur laughed, looking at the two. "And you would need someone to save you, depending on what I do to you."

"Would you let me save you, mon petit lapin?" Francis asked, smiling at Arthur.

Arthur thought for a moment before replying, "Maybe Francis... Maybe."

The Frenchman did a quick fist pump and hugged Arthur quickly, "Yes! Gilbert! Did you hear that? I'm awesome!"

Gilbert hurried over and looked right into Arthur's eyes. "Seriously? You think he is awesome? Explain yourself."

Arthur trembled for a moment under Gilbert's hard gaze and replied, "Oh, well, I never said he was awesome. I just said that I would rather have him save me than Alfred..." He looked over to see Francis' pleading eyes. "But... I suppose he could be 'awesome'. He's usually up to helping me, and is never deliberately mean. I suppose that would make him... Awesome."

Gilbert nodded, "Well, Francis, welcome to the Awesome Club. You have fulfilled your requirements of having someone else say you're awesome, doing your good deeds of the day and you listen to my orders."

Francis grinned from ear to ear and hugged Gilbert as hard as he could. This sent them tumbling into the water, sending a splash to Arthur and Alfred. As soon as they rose, all four of them laughed hysterically.

"Don't you owe Arthur a hug instead of me? He got you into my club! I would also prefer that you don't touch me." Gilbert giggled, pushing Francis into Arthur.

Francis fell over into Arthur and hugged him tightly, "Arthur, thanks so much! Thank you, thank you, thank you! You don't know how long I have waited to be in the Awesome Club!"

Arthur sighed and pushed the Frenchman away. "You touch people too much, Frog. We have to work on that." Francis sighed and looked over to Gilbert and Alfred.

Gilbert jumped up, "Hey! I have an awesome idea! Let's have a volleyball game in the water! Does anyone have a beach ball?" He looked around the pool, and yelled out, "Bruder! Do you have a beach ball?"

Ludwig turned around in surprise, "No, I don't."

"I do!" Came a voice. It was Lili. She was holding a multi-colour beach ball. "Here." She tossed it over to Gilbert.

Gilbert caught the ball with ease and announced, "Everyone, get on teams of 13! We're having a volleyball game! And I'll put up some rope for a net."

"Why do you have rope?" Asked Elizaveta asked. "And by the way, I want to be on your team."

Gilbert pointed to himself proudly, "I am so awesome that I have rope! Do you question that?"

Elizaveta shook her head, and hurried over to find more teammates.

Eventually, there were two teams, each with a different name. On the Awesome team (thanks to Gilbert) was Gilbert, Ludwig, Feliciano, Elizaveta, Vash, Lili, Mathias, Lukas, Emil, Lovino, Antonio, Francis and Arthur. The other team, the Heroes (thanks to Alfred) was Alfred, Matthew, Michelle, Heracles, Sadik, Ivan, Natalia, Katyusha, Yao, Kiku, Tino, Berwald and Roderich.

"You're going down!" Gilbert screeched to the other team, receiving a fit of laughter from Alfred.

"In your dreams!" He replied. "Let's start the game!"

Gilbert served the ball over the rope, and it went to Natalia, who sent it right back over. Vash hit it back over, only to come back again from Yao. The ball went back and forth over the rope again and again, until Heracles dropped the ball. However, Sadik dove under him and hit it back up. Tino hit the ball with his head and over the net, and it landed on the water on the Awesome Team's side.

"No!" Gilbert cried picking up the ball. "We have to redeem ourselves! Here, score for us, Elizaveta!" Elizaveta served the ball over to Ivan, who sent it back easily. Ludwig hit it just before it hit the water, over to Katyusha and back to Lukas. At one point, it went to Mathias, who hit it sideways to Lili, sending the ball over to hut the water before Matthew could reach it.

"All right!" Gilbert cheered, patting Lili's head. "Welcome to the Awesome Club, Lili!" Lili grinned, as the ball was served over.

Eventually, the game ended at 5:00pm, which felt extremely long. They had been playing ball for two hours. Arthur climbed out if the pool and dried himself off. He walked back to his room and took a quick shower. After that, he grabbed an apple from the refrigerator and ate it for dinner. It was small, but Arthur didn't have much of an appetite. After getting ready for bed, Arthur read a chapter of his book and laid down.

Today was definitely eventful. Thanks to Francis, he now knew how to swim. Arthur wasn't sure exactly how thankful he was for that, but he sure was happy.

**Once again, I am truly sorry, and I hope all of you can forgive me. Just as a reminder, just review the story to submit an idea you want me to use. If any of you are wondering where some of the other characters are, then don't worry. They'll arrive in the story soon. I hope you have enjoyed this chapter!**


	8. June 25

**Hello, everybody! This chapter took very long, and it also is very long, so I hope you enjoy it! I haven't included translations and probably never will as they are not too important. If you are curious, use Google Translate.**

**_June 25_**

Arthur woke up that morning hearing a quick knocking on his door. Sliding his feet not his slippers, he walked over and twisted the handle. The person behind the noise was Kiku, with a small smile on his face.

"Konichiwa, Arthur," he greeted, "I wanted to know if you wanted to go around Paris today. You know, without Francis or Arthur. Everyone else is busy today, so..."

Arthur thought for a moment and smiled. "Alright, sure. I'd love to. It would be great to be away from Frog-Face and Al for a bit. They sure make my head hurt. I'll come to your room when I'm ready to go." With that, he swiftly closed the door and picked out one of his pale green suits and put it on. Arthur's favourite colour was green, as it was the colour of his eyes, which everyone seemed to like so much. Actually, most of his family had green eyes, all of them being vibrant and always stood out from the crowd.

Arthur walked out the door of his room and headed over to room 3. Hopefully, he wouldn't run into Gilbert or Feliciano. Though he liked Feliciano, today was too peaceful to be disrupted by his immature, but friendly and comical attitude. He quickly knocked on the door, with a large brass three on it and waited. After a few seconds, it finally opened, with Kiku smiling up at him.

"Hi, Arthur. You're ready I see?" He asked, stepping out into the courtyard.

Arthur nodded, "Yes, it doesn't take long for me to get dressed. Kiku, do we have a plan?"

Kiku blinked, and shook his head, "Actually, no. I was thinking we could go downtown to that bakery that Francis told me about. I heard that it has tea and bread, and I know how much we both like tea." He pulled out a map and pointed to the place he had in mind.

"I think I went there just recently. It is really nice, as long as I am not there with Francis, Alfred, Yao or Ivan. Not so much the last two as the first, but...," Arthur smiled and the two began to walk outside of the hotel.

The crossed through the glass doors and started walking down the street. Arthur was beginning to take a liking to Paris, but he agreed to himself never to admit it to a Francis. There were plenty of bikes and cars moving along slowly on brick streets, among joyous people, walking along and chatting with their neighbors. Everyone seemed so close in France, they didn't seem to have a care in the world. Arthur wished that it was like his home, but London was more of a bustling city, and it didn't seem as careless. He had heard that the cities in the United States were fast-paced as well, but he never gave any of them much thought. England was definitely his home.

"We're here," Kiku smiled and went inside the cafe. Arthur slowly followed, and suddenly realized that neither him nor Kiku spoke French.

"Kiku," he whispered, "Er, these people only speak French. How are we going to order?"

Kiku turned around, and his face turned slightly pale, "Oh, um... I don't really know what to do. You see, I have spent my whole life in Japan, and I have never had to deal with foreign languages before, with limited speech."

Arthur raised a brow, "Then how do you know English?"

"When I became friends with Ludwig and Feliciano, they both knew English, from visiting England together a while back. We decided that since we all come from different backgrounds and languages that we would all learn English, since two of us already knew it. It was hard for me to learn it, as I had different, Japanese, characters. I did it, though, and I am glad. The three of us also know bits of German, Italian and Japanese," Kiku described, sitting down with Arthur at a table.

"My, my, I certainly must learn a new language. Perhaps French. I already know bits and pieces, thanks to Francis. He's called me some weird things, like mon petit chou, little cabbage, and mon petit lapin, little bunny. I don't understand his culture very much at all. I'm sure they don't mean the same things as they do in English. Basically, I could tell him bonjour, mon ami. I should get lessons from him," Arthur wondered aloud.

Kiku grinned, "I have an idea! Let's get Francis to give us French lessons! It will do us good!"

Arthur nodded, "You're certainly right. Will Francis do it, though? I know he hates me."

Kiku put a hand on Arthur's shoulder, "No, Arthur, don't think those things. Does everyone know but you? Francis doesn't hate you. He... Well... His friends say that... He wants to be your friend. He likes you, he doesn't hate you! Where did you ever get that idea?"

"Well, he always picks fights with me, every day! He never really shows that he respects me. Francis does everything he can to make me think he hates him," Arthur sighed, "He's just so... suspicious."

Kiku nodded, "I can see why you think that. However, I can say that it isn't true. His friends, Antonio and Gilbert, feel the same about others. Gilbert tries to be friendly towards Elizaveta, but she doesn't really like him. Antonio is the same to Lovino , but you know Lovino. I can see why, though. He always seems overshadowed by his little brother. He's always grumpy. I don't know why Antonio tries. Feli says that it's Toni's fault, but he says that when he first met Veneziano, he was really bratty and rude. He never did what he said to, despite being younger than him. I don't really understand other family affairs though, only mine, really. Yao is my older brother, and I'm adopted. He kind of took me in, and he was really young then, maybe fifteen or so. Yao cared for me since I was five, until I was 20. I must admit that I was a bit rude to him as well! He always tried to teach me Chinese traditions, but I always stuck to Japanese, instinctively. Anyway, he gave up on me when I turned 20, when he met Ivan. He says that Ivan scared him, but I always knew that they would be great together. I bought my own house and lived on my own, and stopped all connections with Yao, until just a few days ago. I finally got to see my big brother again after so long. It's been only a few years, but it feels much longer."

"I see... My father didn't stay with me for very long. He left, and I was stuck with my older brother, until I got sick of him, and bought a house at the age of 19. I got a job, and they gave me the summer off, because I never had a sick day, nor did I go on vacation. It sure was nice of them. However, I do miss London," Arthur replied, imagining the rain and all of the sights of London he remembered. "A whole summer of Paris... I wonder what's in store."

Kiku slammed his hand down on the table, "Oops, sorry. I've heard that Paris is full of amazing things. There's the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre art museum... We can get everyone to go and see all of it! If we're all here for the whole summer, there's so much we can do and not be in a rush. Maybe, if we like it, we can all meet again sometime, for the winter." He chuckled a bit, imagining the future.

Arthur nodded slowly in agreement. He was beginning to like some of his new friends, and it would be nice to see them all again sometime. "Well, here's what we have. We can ask Francis to teach us some French, we can explore Paris, and we can just have a fun time. It sounds nice."

Kiku grinned, and looked over to the bakery counter. "Hey, I have an idea that can help us order food."

"Yes?" Arthur raised a brow.

"We can use my phone to call Francis, and then tell him what we want to say. He will translate it to the lady at the counter for us. How about it?" Kiku stated his plan, pulling out his phone. He began to type on it, and Arthur observed that he was a very fast typer.

Arthur nodded, and watched Kiku dial Francis' number, "How did you get his number?"

"He gave it to me at the barbecue. He wanted to call me for something else, afterward," Kiku replied, and held up a finger as he waited for the Frenchman's reply. Arthur leaned in to hear the phone, as his hearing wasn't the sharpest.

"Bonjour," came a reply on the other end of the phone, "Who is this?"

Kiku chuckled, "It's me, Kiku. Oh, and Arthur's here too."

"Bonjour, Frog," Arthur greeted.

"Oh, bonjour to you too, chou," Francis laughed. "What seems to be the problem?"

Kiku sighed, "Well, we're at that bakery that Arthur said you all went to a few days ago. As you may know, we can't speak French. So, we though that we could tell you what we want to say and you can translate it for the person at the counter, oh and translate it back."

"Oui, oui, oui, I can do that for you. Bring the phone to the counter, let's go. I'm going downtown with Gilbert and Antonio today."

Arthur stood up and lead Kiku and his phone to the counter. "Hello, we're going to have this phone translate for us."

Francis quickly replied back, "Bonjour, nous allons avoir ce téléphone traduire pour nous."

The woman at the counter raised a brow and chuckled, "Très bien, monsieur téléphone. Qu'est-ce que ces messieurs veulent?"

Francis chuckled, and translated to Arthur and Kiku, "What do you two want?"

"I'll go first," Arthur volunteered. "Francis, I'll have tea-any tea- and a blueberry scone."

"Il aura tout le thé et un scone aux bleuets," Francos translated, as the woman at the counter hurried to get the requested items. "And you, Monsieur Kiku?"

"I'll have green tea and a croissant, please," Kiku decided after some pondering.

As soon as the woman returned with Arthur's things, she asked, "Et pour ce monsieur?"

"Il aura le thé vert et un croissant," Francis told her, and she hurried off to get the food.

She finally came back, and handed the food to Kiku. ""Voici votre prix."

"That's your price, you two," Francis said. "I'll have to be going now."

Kiku decided that he should pay, without consulting Arthur. Luckily, the Brit didn't notice this. "Wait, Francis. Kiku and I want to learn French. And, well, could you teach it to us?"

"Oui! Of course I can! Tomorrow, we will get started on lessons! Now, I must go, so au revoir," Francis exclaimed, and then hung up.

Arthur waved to the clerk and walked over to Kiku, handing him his phone. "Here you go. Francis will be giving us lessons tomorrow."

Kiku smiled and accepted the device, putting it in his pocket. Arthur sat down and began to eat his scone. "So, how are you liking France?" He asked between bites,

"It's very different from Japan. In Tokyo, you can see mountains in the distance, and sea to the other side, with the rising red sun to greet you in the morning. Here in Paris, there isn't the same combination of land, sea, and sky. It is a very pretty town, I must say. Well, it may be a city, but I always thought of it as bustling, cozy village, for some reason. I am certainly excited to see French art in the Louvre, and the architecture with their beautiful Eiffel Tower, but I can't help but miss home," Kiku sighed, imagining his home.

"I miss my home, too. London doesn't have the towering skyscrapers like Tokyo does, but it has an old atmosphere. It's on a river, so you can only see a sunrise if you look, say, in the direction of London Bridge. I sure miss the ring of Big Ben every morning and every hour. Sometime after this summer, we should find a way to visit each other's homes," Arthur suggesting, taking a sip of his warm tea. He had finished his scone before he had begun to talk.

The two sat silently for a moment, drinking their tea. "I also greatly miss the rain. In London, it occurred often, but in Paris, I was lucky to see it once," Arthur sighed, and turned his head to look out the window. He jumped back in surprise at the silhouette of a man waving at them and trying to say something in the sunlight. Suddenly, Arthur realized that it was Alfred.

"Alfred, use the door," he growled, and pointed toward the glass entrance to the café. Alfred rolled his eyes and walked inside,

"Oh, hello, Alfred. What brings you here?" Kiku asked, pulling a chair from another table for Alfred to sit on.

Alfred sat down and grinned from ear to ear. He held leaned forward in the table and asked, "Would you guys mind helping me find a gift for Michelle? I'm thinking about a cell phone. I mean, who doesn't have a cell phone? Michelle doesn't, so that's why she needs one, for he birthday."

Arthur and Kiku patiently listened, and looked to each other. "Alfred," the Brit asked, "Do you know if the Seychelles have phone service or not? She might not have a use for a phone at all."

Kiku raised a hand to stop conversation, "When is Michelle's birthday?"

"I think it's like the 29th or something. And then, like, 5 days later, is my awesome birthday that Gilbert is going to plan for me. You know, it's really funny how my birthday is one the 4th of July. My birthday is going to be so awesome, with fireworks, and flags-"

Arthur interrupted, "I hate to bust your bubble, but, we're in France. Therefor, there are no Independence Day celebrations, thankfully. They are much too loud. By the way, he have to work on your brother's birthday before yours, in case you haven't noticed."

Alfred scratched his head and pulled out his phone. "Oh yeah, Matthew's. Let's Google 'Is there cell phone service in the Seychelles'..." Arthur and Kiku leaned in closely, while Alfred's fingers typed in the question on his phone. "Okay, it says that there is cell phone service, but not the remote islands. We should be fine. So, what kind of phone should we get Michelle?"

Arthur shrugged. He didn't know a bit about phones. After all, he had always relied on his home phone or a nearby pay phone. "How about something like your phone?" He asked.

"That could be a good idea," Kiku agreed. "Does Michelle like technology like phones?" He sat back and crossed his arms, watching Alfred.

Alfred shuddered, "Dude, Kiku. Don't look at me like that. It's really creepy." Kiku unfolded his arms and sat back up, cluelessly. "Anyway! She'd better like phones, because Francis challenged me to a contest where you compete to see who gives the birthday girl or guy the best gift! It's so gonna be me! He already outdid me on Emil's birthday, which was the day before you got here. Like, I totally bought Emil an awesome sweater that was red, white, and blue, with snowflakes. Of course, the red, white, and blue looked like it was an American sweater, but it's also the colours of Iceland's flag, so I am totally not as stupid as everyone thinks! Then, Francis bought Emil a freaking puffin! A puffin! Who gets a puffin for their birthday, and where the heck did Francis get a puffin? Anyway, Emil loved that puffin for some reason, and so now, I have to outdo him!"

Arthur nodded and placed his hand on the soft wooden table and laughed, "Well, if you're trying to be better than Francis, then I'm all for helping you! That Frog is too unrealistically good at everything he does. If he is better than the three of us, then he must be some kind of wizard."

"I bet he's an alien!" Alfred chuckled, while putting his phone away in his dark grey bag, and zipped up the top. Arthur looked over to Kiku and rolled his eyes, at the possibility of Francis being an alien.

"Alfred, he's not an alien. There's no such thing, so far. We haven't discovered aliens yet, and why would a creature from another planet look exactly like one from this one?" Arthur reasoned, receiving a gasp from Alfred.

"Aliens are real! We just haven't noticed them yet. And, an alien could obviously use their superior technology to morph themselves into a human. Get with the program, Arthur," Alfred retorted, standing up and leaning above Arthur.

"By program, I believe you mean television programs, which are NOT REAL," Arthur fought back. "It is physically impossible to change your bone structure like that."

"How about magic?" Alfred asked. "You suggested Francis was a wizard, so maybe Francis is an alien-wizard."

"Highly unlikely," Arthur groaned.

Kiku put a hand between the feuding men, "How about we just go to the electronics store and forget all about the species that Francis is. We can go get Michelle a phone, and Alfred can win this bet, and Francis will stay the same thing he was before, so there's no need for a debate right now. What do you say?" His dull brown eyes glowed a bit, hoping for Alfred and Arthur to stop.

"Fine, let's go," Alfred sighed, and stood up. He then muttered, "Jerky Limey," under his breath.

Arthur and Kiku stood up and put their trash into the bin nearby. They walked over to join Alfred, and they opened the door into the intensifying sunlight.

"Alfred, lead the way," Arthur commanded, and started to follow he younger blonde. The street was bustling with people donning fancy coats and shoes. Some people stopped to speak to each other on the street, and there was a slow, peaceful atmosphere. Eventually, they had reached a busier part of town, which was where the electronics store was located. The trio hurried inside and followed Alfred to the cell phone section. There weren't very many people in the store, and it was only the three of them in that particular aisle.

"What kind of phone are we looking for?" Kiku asked, facing Alfred.

Alfred scratched his head, "Something awesome and cool... Like this one!" He picked up a small case. Inside of it was a phone that could easily fit in your hand. It looked like some kind of smart-phone, with a touch screen. Arthur took it from Alfred hands and turned it over to look at the price.

"Seems reasonable," Arthur muttered. "Shall we split the payment and make the gift from all three of us?"

Kiku and Alfred looked at each other. "Yes, why not? That way, Alfred saves money, unlike last time, and the two of us don't have to worry about getting a gift," Kiku suggested, and the American nodded. The three of them took the phone up to the counter and split he payment.

"Dude, why can't the world have the same currency everywhere? We can call it... Money dollars," Alfred complained, paying his share for the phone.

"Because that's not how it works. Every country has different things, so get over it. Also, money dollars is the worst name for a unit of money that I have ever heard," Arthur said, rolling his eyes.

Once the phone was paid for and in a bag, Alfred, Arthur, and Kiku began to walk home. Once they turned a corner, the scenery was changed to peaceful and serene, the way Arthur liked it. As the three waked alongside he sidewalk, they saw Lukas and Emil coming at them from the opposite direction.

"Emil, et er Alfred, Arthur, og Kiku. Hei, deg tre!" Lukas leaned over to whisper to Emil, and waved to the others.

"Lukas, snakker Engelsk, ver sa snill," Emil sighed, tugging on his shoulder.

"Ja, jeg vil..." Lukas agreed, and hurried over to the three. "Hei, guys. Hvordan har du det? I mean, how are you?"

"I lege måde," Kiku replied, a small smile on his face.

"Snakker du Norsk?" Lukas asked, a confused look on his face.

"Bare litt. I learned it a language club I was in back in Japan. We learned some phrases from a new language every week," Kiku replied. "It was very fun. However, we ran out of members a few months ago, so it was disbanded."

"That's a shame," Lukas said, now in front of Kiku. Arthur walked over to them, as Alfred walked over to Emil, and they went into he hotel together.

"Kiku and I were planning to have Francis teach us some French this summer," Arthur informed the Norwegian. "Do you know any French?"

"Nei" Lukas shook his head. "I should, but... We- Emil, Matthias, and I- decided to come last minute, so there was no time to learn much. It seems like people from all over the world came to France this summer."

"Yeah, there are people in our hotel from Asia, North America, Europe... Africa too. Well, we all see, to get along, to an extent as well," Kiku thought aloud, as the group started to walked inside the hotel.

Germania was at the counter, as usual, and was setting up papers. Just as Arthur, Kiku, And Lukas were about to enter the plaza hallway, Feliciano and Ludwig entered the hotel. Ludwig nodded to Germania, greeting him with a "guten tag". Arthur's eyes wandered to a potted plant in the corner of the lobby. It seemed of a tropical species, and was full of many different colours and had a sense of diversity. The leaves, it reminded Arthur or something, perhaps the diversity of his new friends?

"Hello, Ludwig, how are you?" Arthur asked, going up to the large German.

"Very well, thank you," he replied, "and Feliciano forced me to go to this store, and I will never unsee what I have seen."

Arthur stepped back, his eyes wide, "W-Why would Feliciano take you there, then?"

"It was rows, and aisles, and section of pasta! Too much, too much. For Feli, it was heaven, but for me, I felt like I was being attacked!" Ludwig sighed, and looked to the Italian. "He sure loves pasta. I, not he other hand, will stick to my wurst, thank you."

Feliciano rushed over to join in the conversation, "Oh Ludwig, I love wurst too! Remember that first time I ate it? I thought it was cat poop, but it was so delicious!"

Ludwig bowed his head, "Feliciano, I know you love wurst. Now, we have to get back to the hotel, remember?"

"Si, Luddy! Let's go! Bye, Arthur!" Feliciano laughed, in an upbeat tone, and followed Ludwig down the hall.

By now, Lukas and Kiku had already gone inside, so Arthur walked over to the door to the hallway and opened it, slowly. As he slipped through, he waved a farewell to Germania, and strolled to the courtyard, admiring the pictures along the wall. One depicted a girl, burning at the stake. It was titled Jeanne d' arc. Arthur's heart sunk, as he knew this story. It was so touching and sad to him, and he hurried along the hallway and into the courtyard.

As soon as Arthur burst into the warm open area, he spotted Michelle, standing by the pond with Natalia. He barely overhead their conversation, but it was audible.

"Natalia, no one seems to notice that my birthday is soon, and I don't want to tell anyone, since I thought it might make me sound annoying," Michelle sighed, her legs dangling above the water.

The blonde Belarusian looked at the brunette and gave a small smile, and said, "No one remembers my birthday. Only my brother and sister. However, I'm sure that the others will remember. For all I know, they could be making a surprise birthday party."

Michelle turned to look at Natalia, with sympathy on her face, "How could anyone forget your birthday? You're so nice to me..."

Natalia shook her head, and frowned, "I'm nice to some people, usually girls. They understand me more. My brother, Ivan, is scared of me, and I don't know why. I just want to be near him, but I think he hates me. It was ever since he met Yao! Yao was calmer, and nicer to him than I ever was. But, I'm his sister! Yao seems oblivious to how it has effected me, but I have tried to get Ivan back, but he locks himself away and screams for me to go away."

Michelle gasped, and played with her hands. "Natalia, I heard from your brother that you tried to marry him."

Natalia looked down, tucking her chin to her chest. "He doesn't understand," she muttered, "I figured that was the only way to get him back, but it hurt me instead. Now, Ivan is scared out of his mind because of me, and it's all my fault. If only I didn't try that dumb idea, then maybe he would still love me as a little sister, and cease to fear me as a stalker."

Michelle put a hand on Natalia's shoulder and whispered, "Give it time, and maybe Ivan won't fear you."

Natalia looked up, and to the door that Ivan shared with Yao. "You're right. I'll leave him be. At least Katyusha's eyes see me as a good sister."

Arthur decided to stop listening, and hurried to his room, where he set down his bag and started to read, hoping to finish the book he was close to done with by nightfall. The conversation earlier, though, puzzled the Brit. At first, Natalia seemed cold and scary to him, but was it possible that this was just one side of her?

**Okay, I don't know where I'm going with this. Well, now that I have written this, it has to be about Natalia somehow. I'll figure it out. Hopefully. **


End file.
